Whispers in the Dark
by Violetvixen17
Summary: Lucy is a fan of Twilight, and one night finds herself in that world. She thinks it's a dream, but what if it isn't? What happens when Lucy affects their world and they affect hers?
1. Reluctant Dreamer

I felt ridiculous, I'd fallen into a pop culture trap. As much as I'd resisted initially, I'd gotten involved in reading the Twilight Saga and fallen in deep love with the characters and the forbidden love of Edward and Bella. Once hooked, I'd read the books several times and seen the movies, bought the DVDs, I was proud to say the obsession stopped there, no posters adorned my walls and I did not own a single Twilight item other than the books and the movies. I thought I had it beat, a slight love affair with this fictional world, no one would have to know right?

How wrong I was….

It began with a dream.

I crawled into bed exhausted, it had been a long day of pounding the pavement looking for work. This stupid recession had made it nearly impossible for a struggling college student to find summer employment. Without it, I didn't know if I'd even be able to return to school in the fall. My loan payments were already getting higher than I could handle, and after being laid off from my cashier job….well, let's just say I was in need of something, and fast. That meant days turning in resumes and applications, only to be told that no one was hiring.

I sighed and pulled the covers over my head, hoping for some escape from my worries. As sleep consumed me I fell into a dream…..quite literally.

I tripped over something as the dream began, a tree root. I hit the ground hard and let out a curse as pain shot through my knee. The forest around me was lush and green and smelled of pine and earth. The light was dim, overcast and misty. I knew I had to be dreaming, it was a hot July evening in my real world, nothing like this cool misty dusk. Thankfully in this dream I found myself dressed for the weather, in jeans and a sweatshirt.

The rest of my surroundings came into focus. I sat at the edge of a forest, peering across a small river towards a clearing where a large house loomed, lone against the trees. The entire back wall seemed to made of large windows, walls of glass. I sucked in a loud breath as I realized where I was. The Cullen's backyard.

As the realization hit me I groaned, cradling my face in my hands.

"I am so pathetic….." I moaned, having to admit that despite the fact that I'd been trying to get rid of my Twilight obsession, it was now invading my dreams. I silently prayed to wake up, if only to escape my own humiliation.

"That may be, but what are you doing here?" A deep voice chuckled behind me. Startled I snapped around to see a big hulking bear of a man with short dark hair and that trademark milk white skin.

"Emmett." I murmured, pretty impressed that he seemed so real. A look of shock, then one of confusion glossed over his features as he studied me.

"So you know my name…what's yours?"

"Lucy." I smirked, still marveling at the ludicrousness of the moment.

"Lucy? So are you going to tell me why you're sitting here in the mud in my backyard?" He quirked an eyebrow and smiled a little, and I had to resist a laugh as I recalled how the character liked to tease. He reminded of a cat with a mouse, toying with it.

"I'm dreaming actually. None of this is real, including you." I said, looking up to gauge his reaction. His expression moved slightly as if my comment intrigued him.

"Is that so? Pretty interesting alibi." He stood up then and looked toward the house, I remained where I was, normally in dreams they were only a moment or two before they switched and I was ready to wake from this one, it was a little too real.

"Well, are you coming? Or are you just going to sit there in mud all night?" He extended his hand to help me up. I sighed and then relaxed a little, if I was going to be stuck this dream, I might as well play along.

I looked up at him for a minute then reached to take his hand. I was surprised that his touch was very cold, as if he'd had his hands in a freezer. It surprised me not because of the temperature, (I'd expected as much from a Cullen), but because I could actually FEEL how cold he was, that was unusual in my dreams. Despite the cold of his touch, his hold was gentle and I smiled, _this might actually be fun_. Emmett looked amused at my lack of physical reaction his touch, he lifted an eyebrow quizzically.

I couldn't help but smirk a little. "Expecting a flinch?"

He laughed then. "Yes actually."

"Sorry to disappoint." He stared at me for a moment, his eyes searching my face for something. Then that grin reappeared and he pulled me forward quickly, making for the house.

"Come on, they need to meet you."


	2. In their midst

I trotted to keep up with him, fully aware that he could have sprinted and just dragged me if he'd been so inclined. The grass under my feet was wet and soaked my sneakers, I could smell the rich scents of the trees as a breeze blew through. I had to give myself credit, this dream was so real.

I nearly tripped as he jogged us up the stairs and into the house. As he opened the door, I was greeted to the same scene that Bella Swan must have endured. All the remaining Cullen's stood in the living room staring at me with stony expressions. All save one. A slight twinge of disappointment blew through me as I noticed exactly who was missing, Edward. Of course, it was my luck to be stuck in a Twilight dream, without the character that I loved most.

My thoughts came back to the moment as I faced them. They all watched me with intrigued eyes, different shades of that same golden color. Being here in person, actually looking into their faces I recognized slight differences. Alice's eyes were very light gold, the color reminding me of amber crystal, while Carlisle's seemed more the color of polished teak, and Jasper's were different as well, being slightly darker and more reminiscent of copper or bronze. All their faces I remembered from the films but my brain was still trying to wrap around the reality of being in the room with them, and the selfish part of my mind eagerly drank it all in, burying it away to be the stuff of fantasies later on.

Even as I studied them, their faces remained that serious and slightly somber expression. I instantly felt anxious, wondering if this was the part where my subconscious turned my playful fantasy into a nightmare. They all looked so serious, even Emmett lost his grin.

"Looks like you found a stray." Rosalie was the first to speak, flicking her long blond hair over one shoulder. She studied me with a cold gaze, no doubt wondering what her partner could be thinking dragging a strange human into their home.

"Don't be rude Rose," Esme spoke up, shooting Rosalie a chiding glance before stepping towards me a little. Her beautiful face warmed with a kind smile as she looked me over. "Welcome to our home…." She waited for Emmett to introduce me, ever the polite hostess. I was about to fill in the blank when someone else spoke.

"Lucy." The voice from behind me sent a shiver down my spine. "Her name is Lucy." The breathy masculine sound rippled down my nerve endings like the aftershock of an earthquake. I was suddenly elated and terrified at once. _Oh dear God…I'm going to have to face him?_ This was going too far. My mind reeled as I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, fully prepared to wake up when I opened them. This was too vivid, his voice too real.

"Are you all right?" Esme touched my shoulder softly. I opened my eyes to see her pretty face now laced with concern. I almost wanted to lie to spare her the anxiety. But then again, if my imagination held….he would have known.

"I….."

"Forgive us, Lucy….we're being terribly rude. We don't often get the chance to entertain, it appears our manners need some polishing. You've met Emmett, Esme is my wife, my name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen." He stepped forward, all charm and sophistication as he draped his arm around Esme's shoulders.

"It's nice to meet you." I forced the words out, but I still felt shaky. I wondered if He was still there behind me. I was scared to look. I focused instead on Alice, who was looking at me slightly different now, her brow furrowed a little like she was concentrating. Jasper stood stiffly beside her, his arm at her waist, I wondered what I smelled like to them. I remembered their reactions to Bella's scent, did having a human in their midst make their throats burn? Would my subconscious be creative enough to add their thirst to this scenario?

"Where did you come from?" Rosalie piped up again, this time moving to stand beside Emmett. Under her glare I remembered that I was still clinging to Emmetts' arm, I quickly let go.

"It's not going to make sense." I said softly, not wanting to mar the beauty of this dream by explaining how it came to be in my head.

"She was out in the woods," Emmett started, but faltered, as he had no idea how I came to be there either. "I was coming back from hunting and she just was there."

There was a pause as they all still stared at me, most likely watching the blush that was slowly creeping over my face. This was getting embarrassing, standing there under their scrutiny, I suddenly thought what it would be to have Edward's gift to know what was going on in their heads_. It might be nice…_

"Trust me, it's normally more trouble than it's worth." He spoke again, and this time I braved a glance over my shoulder. I had to get at least one look, whether it broke the fantasy or not, I needed to see if it was really him.

And despite my mind's reluctance to believe it, there lounging against the door frame behind me was Edward Cullen.


	3. A dream or something more?

The sight of him made my heart hurt, and my cheeks flush even hotter. He was just as handsome as I'd seen him on screen, but more so. Part of my mind nagged that he wasn't real, that he was an actor in costume, but here….in this now he seemed real. And for this moment, in this place, he wasn't that other man at all, he was simply Edward Cullen.

And now that I'd looked, I couldn't tear my gaze, as my mind hungrily drank in every little detail; from the crisp black shirt that he wore to the dark jeans that looked brand new, I smiled to see that this Edward was relaxed enough to be wearing black sneakers instead of prim loafers.

He smirked a little at me, and I knew it was at my silliness. But he was so perfectly beautiful that I prayed that this wouldn't be a dream I'd forget upon waking, a memory this lovely needed to be preserved somewhere deep in my subconscious where I could draw upon it whenever I felt sad.

He watched me with a slightly curious expression, but something more was visible in his face as well. The corner of his mouth pulled up a little in a half smile and his eyes moved to lock with mine. My face felt even hotter and I wondered how red I was turning, as I realized that he was probably listening to every irrational thought that was flying through my mind.

He nodded a little as if in answer to that and I had to tear my eyes away in embarrassment. Bella was right, that crooked smile was the best look. I still couldn't believe that my dream was holding, why wasn't I waking up? And why did this all seem so real?

"So what were you doing in the woods anyway?" Rosalie continued with the interrogation.

"I don't know." That was true enough.

"Are you lost? Were you hiking?" Rosalie badgered, Emmett put his arm around her shoulders and pressed his lips to her hair.

"Babe, ease up." He crooned softly.

Alice moved forward then, with Jasper a step or two behind. He only had eyes for Alice and watched her like a hawk as she stepped up to stand before me. Her hair flipped outward from her face and she cocked her head a little as if trying to figure something out.

"I know you're going to think this is weird, but can I see something?" She asked, with a timid smile, like a child who hoped they'd find a friend. I couldn't help but smile back.

"See what?"

"I'm curious too Alice." I heard Edward murmur behind me.

"Can I see your hand for moment?"

I nodded, now I was curious too. I lifted my hand and she took it, turning it over and staring at my palm and my wrist. Her delicate cold fingers traced the vein that ran down and then the crease by my thumb, then suddenly her grip tightened and her eyes took on a faraway look, she was 'seeing' something.

Jasper moved closer to put a hand on her shoulder, his brow laced with concern. Before I could blink, Edward stood on her other side, looking at me intently, his eyes darting to his sister then back again.

"What is going on?" I asked. Everyone in the room seemed to share that sentiment.

Alice let my hand go suddenly as if it burned her, and her face took on a look of shock as she leaned back against Jasper. I found myself suddenly face to face with Edward, I could smell his breath against my face as his eyes stared hard into mine. The color was liquid butterscotch and I had to fight not to lose myself in it. Despite his beauty, he was deadly serious.

"How did you get here? How did you do it?" He questioned fiercely.

I fumbled for an answer, _what had they seen when Alice touched my hand?_

Before I could answer the other Cullens came to life. Carlisle and Esme moved up behind Edward and Rosalie and Emmett backed away. I could see that they were all ready to spring if need be. Alice's peculiar response had sparked an air of defensiveness.

"I'm sorry. I don't know, I just fell asleep." I stammered, then as Edward stared down at me, my temper flared a little. I straightened up, in the small fraction of space that Edwards' closeness allowed.

"What is your problem anyway? You're not even real, you could relax a little!" I pushed against his chest, trying to ignore that he was so unbelievably real. Trying to move him was like leaning against a stone wall, but I wasn't afraid …I knew I was dreaming.

"Why do you keep thinking that?" Edward's posture softened a little.

"Thinking what?" I folded my arms across my chest defensively.

"That you're dreaming. It doesn't make sense." He said slowly, as if he were analyzing me.

I sighed. "Because I am." I let my gaze roam across all their faces, memorizing this for later, then dropped my arms in defeat. "As much as I wish this was real, that I'm really standing here talking to the Cullen family…..in my world you all are characters on a movie screen, actors in costume, portraying characters from a book. A book ….." selfishly I let my eyes rest on Edward's beautiful face. "….that I'm very fond of, but a fantasy none the less."

They were quiet then, and I could tell from all of their faces that they thought I was crazy. I closed my eyes and rubbed a hand across my forehead. I could wake up now, this was not turning out to be the fun fantasy I'd hoped it would, now it was only me having to tell the characters of my dream that they were just that, figments of a lonely imagination. How depressing….let me wake up now….

Edward spoke finally, and I opened my eyes to see that amazingly, my dream still held and I began to wonder how long I was sleeping. "You said that you know us from a book?"

I nodded.

"What did it tell you about us?" Carlisle spoke this time, his voice clear and filled with gentle authority.

"It was a story, about Edward." He stiffened as I finally spoke his name and an unknown expression drifted across his stoic features. I looked away to avoid getting too sidetracked by his loveliness. "And a girl named Bella, and how their relationship came to be and evolved through several events." For some reason I was wary of giving away too much. I wasn't sure what time frame I was supposed to be in this dream, whether all the events of the books had passed, or had yet to come. I tried to keep my mind blank of significant detail from the later books, in case Edward was listening too closely.

"Wait, Bella? Do you mean Isabella Swan? That new girl?" Emmett suddenly spoke again. "The one whose smell chased Edward out of Biology class yesterday?"

I reeled. So that's when I was, it was near the beginning of Twilight. _Oh dear God, I was getting lost here, it was sucking me in._

"The books told you about Edward….what did they tell you about our family?" Carlisle changed the subject away from Bella thankfully.

I took a deep breath, and tried to gauge what to say next. My mind warred internally over whether it couldn't hurt since I was only dreaming, or whether something larger was at stake. It was a surreal experience.

"I know you're not human, if that's what you mean."

The room suddenly erupted in motion and a cacophony of voices talking at once. I only caught words likes "outed", "Volturi", and "punishment". I saw the looks of worry and fear that they tossed amongst themselves and I felt a weight in my chest. The last thing I wanted to do was cause them pain.

"Wait….it's all right. Everything will be all right, you don't have to worry!" I said loudly, and their chatter ceased immediately as they all turned those golden eyes back my way.

"If I'm right about what I know, it will all be okay. Your secret stays safe. And I can't cause you harm….it's not real." I tried to reassure them and Alice moved back toward me, looking interested and less freaked now.

"Alice, what did you see when you touched my hand? I'm curious." I had to know.

She smiled then. "I saw you, asleep somewhere. It scared me because it was a double layered vision, I saw you here with us now, and also asleep in a bed. I've never had two visions lay on top of one another like that."

I was shocked, she'd seen me sleeping? While I was dreaming? _Man, my subconscious is really acting up tonight, _I thought to myself. It didn't make sense, this dream being so real, so interactive, and now Alice's double vision?

"It is very strange Lucy." She agreed with my thoughts, even though I knew only Edward could hear them, my confusion must have been showing on my face. "I'm not sure quite what a two layered vision means, but I saw something else as well that may prove you wrong on one count."

"And what's that?"

She grinned then. "You'll be coming back."

I wanted to smile, to tell her she was wrong. I never had the same dream twice, and I was sure that my imagination would never power up enough juice to recreate what had happened tonight, this was a once in a life time experience. But as I was about to argue with her I heard Rosalie let out a strangled cry.

"Look at her hands!"

I looked down to see that my hands suddenly appeared translucent. As I lifted them to examine it, they faded more until I no longer had them. And it was spreading. I was waking up. They had all stepped away from me, staring with amazed expressions and were speaking, but I could no longer hear them. Something deep inside my soul pulled and tugged and I fought it for a quick second, just long enough to find Edward's eyes one last time.

I wondered if he could still hear my mind, and quickly thought one last sentiment to him. _It was lovely, goodbye._

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((

I sat upright in my bed with a shock. My hands tingled and I felt groggy as if I'd been asleep a week. I stared at the clock on my nightstand….it was nearly 6 am, I'd slept clear through the night. That alone was unusual for me, normally I tossed and turned, flitting in and out of sleep.

I flopped back onto my pillows with a sigh. I closed my eyes and happily found I could remember everything about the strange dream. But it's vividness still unnerved me. Alice's comment in particular echoed in my ears "You'll be back."

I opened my eyes and smiled up at the ceiling "If only that were true."

I had no way of knowing it then, but a breach had occurred between our two worlds, and what I thought was a pleasant "dream"...was going to set events in motion that would alter both.


	4. Shifting

CULLEN'S WORLD

No one moved for a few seconds, and to anyone who might have been watching, they could have all appeared statues for those few moments. No one breathed, blinked, or twitched at all. But then Rosalie began to pace.

"Who the hell was she? What just happened? What WAS that?" She threw up her hands as she faced her family. "Am I the only one who noticed how insane that whole thing was?"

Esme frowned at Rosalie's dramatics, but said nothing. Carlisle shook his head slowly before beginning to speak. "That was strange, I have to admit. I've never seen someone vanish in that manner. But….I may have an idea as to what happened."

Every single member of his family suddenly stared at him curiously. Edward in particular advanced on him, his hands jammed in his pockets now. "Tell us Carlisle. I need to know."

Carlisle rubbed his forehead as he tried to remember. "During my time with the Volturri, long ago…there was information about certain events of which the humans could not know. You see, their thinking rationed that supernatural events would only cause more attention to be brought to us as immortals, so even if it was not a vampire act or related, the Volturri still did the cover ups for certain events."

"Events?" Jasper was curious now too, especially after Alice's bizarre vision.

"The battles with the Children of the Moon in Europe centuries ago were one such event." Carlisle answered. "But the event that I remember talk of was something called the Shifting."

Rosalie moved back to stand by Emmett who tried to calm her by stroking her fall of blond hair gently. He whispered something to her that did relax her stance a smidgen but her eyes still trained on Carlisle, listening intently.

"Shifting?" Alice spoke this time.

"It was before my time, but I heard mention of it. It had something to do with beings that were able to move between worlds, dimensions if you will. The Volturri frowned on their appearances and often had to eradicate humans that the Shifters came in contact with. Often Shifters would have intricate knowledge of the future or the past as their dimension was in a different time. Often they would be extremely confused and their visits did not last long. There were certain scholar members of the Volturri who tried to investigate and I know for a fact that Aro did put out a search for any immortals or humans who had the potential to become Shifters. Can you imagine the power that could be had if Shifting could be trained and controlled? In the hands of the Volturri it could have been disastrous."

Edward grimaced slightly as Carlisle's memories filled his mind faster than his speech. He saw exactly what Carlisle had feared the Volturri would do with the power of Shifting. Whole worlds set aside simply as 'feeding grounds' for the bloodthirsty immortals, who had no respect for human life. It was atrocious.

"Did they find anyone?" Esme's musical voice cut through the silence.

"No, thank goodness. Shifters either stopped crossing the path of the Volturri, or no longer appeared at that time. Either way, the idea was dropped after many years without event. "

Edward digested all this information, in his mind he replayed Lucy's vanishing and began to connect the dots. "Carlisle, you think that girl….Lucy, she was Shifting?"

Carlisle nodded. "She had knowledge of us that she couldn't have known, she appeared confused, and then her disappearing. It was exactly how the Volturri described how the Shifters would move through."

"Did you see her arrive?" Rosalie turned her eyes on Emmett.

He shook his head. "I was running back from a hunting trip, and nearly fell over her in the woods."

"She kept saying she was dreaming, I wonder…." Edward mused. "And then that nonsense about Isabella Swan." Edward bristled as he muttered that name. That was the new girl, the police chief's daughter. She had arrived in school yesterday and brought an unbelievably delicious temptation right into the classroom. He remembered the sheer torture of sitting beside her for that hour; while she'd been pretty and had seemed lonely she had driven him to near the brink of madness with the aroma of her blood. He had taken the day off school today just to stay away.

Alice stiffened again as she watched a scene play out in her mind. Jasper tightened his hold on her waist as she gasped. Edward tuned in on her thoughts; her vision was strange again, like watching something be erased. He saw himself with Isabella in the woods, in a meadow, but it was fading out, being replaced with….with nothing.

"Alice?" Carlisle looked concerned.

"It's changing. Someone's decision changed. Edward….you…your path has been altered." She murmured.

"I saw."

"I can't see where it's going yet. But it changed." Alice's posture relaxed once more and the Cullen's all tried to understand.

LUCY POV

The strange dream seemed to follow me all throughout the day, even as I went into yet another job interview, only to find out that they were only hiring for one day a week. Normally this news would have sent me into an internal tirade, but today my thoughts just kept straying back to my time with the Cullen's. They had seemed so unbelievably real, everything about their house, the woods, their faces, their voices…it was all crystal clear in my memory, as if I'd really been there.

Despite my best efforts to keep my head in the present, that afternoon I found myself slipping my DVD of Twilight into the player and fast forwarding to the cafeteria scene when Bella first catches sight of the Cullen family. There they were, only this time I noticed something different when I watched the scene where Edward and Bella met for the second time.

Before when I'd watched this film, I'd thought the scene had seemed romantic, as if Edward genuinely liked Bella, despite her aromatic blood. But now there seemed to be something different on his face. I paused the scene, and stared at his face for a moment. Knowledge danced there, as if he knew…. _Snap out of it Lucy! You are seriously losing it! _My mind hollered at me._ They are actors, reading a script!_

But still something in me nagged, needed to know. I pulled the book from my shelf and flipped the pages. The book was written from Bella's perspective, so it contained much the same scene, but it still read differently to me. Bella seemed to feel what I now did, that Edward knew something about her arrival, about who she would be to him. I struggled to remember the last time I'd read this book…._why did it seem different now?_


	5. Wonderment

Part 5

EDWARD POV

Edward stared at the mountain waterfall, perched up high on a boulder above. The sound of the crashing falls soothed his nerves as he tried to think. He'd run up here to his favorite spot, far from where any trails led so he could not be found by any mortal, and most likely not by his family either. He'd scouted out many such hiding places in these mountains, it was part of why he enjoyed their time in the Pacific Northwest so much, so much wilderness to roam, so much less mortal interaction. For as much as his gift served him, it was also taxing to have to tune out the mindless mental chatter he was subjected to while the company of mortals.

Out here in the wilderness, the only thoughts he had to listen to were his own.

He mulled over the events of the past week. The arrival of Isabella Swan in school, the strange attraction he'd felt toward her. It had almost been against his will, as if someone had decided for him how he would feel for his girl. The attraction had been swift and intense, but also unpleasant. The smell of her blood was both intoxicating and excrutiating. It brought out everything in him that he hated about what he was; the instinct to hunt, to devour, to destroy. He'd worked hard for decades to overcome those parts of himself, and then in walked this girl who while lovely brought up all those things in a swift instant.

He'd nearly fled the school grounds in a conflicted fury over the whole dilemma. And then another girl had walked into his life, and his families. And now he was more confused than ever.

"Lucy…" He murmured her name aloud as he replayed the memory. For what she was, if she was a Shifter as Carlisle believed, she had seemed so harmless and fragile…yet strong at once. He chuckled as he recalled her flare of temper when she'd stood up to him. She'd seemed as weak as any human but yet she'd pushed at him, knowing what he was. It intrigued him as she seemed a study in paradoxes. She'd claimed to know things, especially about him…things that had yet to happen. She'd also seemed so sad as her mind convinced her that they weren't real, but then he remembered her feelings and thoughts he'd read when she'd seen him. Elation and joy had flooded through her, along with attraction even. Her thoughts had seemed so familiar, as if she'd known him forever. He smiled down at the falls as he remembered the warmth that her thoughts had generated in him, it had felt foreign as he'd been cold for so long.

Edward picked up a jagged rock and rolled it between his palms until the friction smoothed it to a polished shine as he thought. Lucy's face lingered in his mind; her ebony hair was slightly curled with long bangs swept across her forehead. Her eyes had been a haunting deep green, laced with flecks of gold. He tried to convince himself that she was just another mortal girl….but he'd had a chance to observe her physicality more than the Swan girl as he hadn't been distracted by her blood. In fact, as he remembered, it hadn't occurred to any of them then, (due to the odd way she'd appeared)…but her scent hadn't been tempting at all. She'd had a fragrance that smelled more like a flower than food.

Edward smiled. Yes, the smell of her blood bordered between a field of violets and the lush clean smell of the rain. He smiled to himself. It had been lovely.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Three days passed. I didn't dream. My sleep was the normal restless, fitful sleep I was prone too. One night I tossed so much, I nearly fell out of my bed. I was tired and cranky, and hated to admit that the one night I had spent with the fictional Cullen family was the best time I'd had in awhile, despite the fact that I'd been asleep and they'd been suspicious of me.

I'd continued to look for work, and still wasn't having any luck. My days had gone from bad to worse, and then in the third evening I received a drunken phone call from my ex boyfriend.

"Luce….?" I could hear the slur in his voice and I instantly regretted answering.

"What do you want?"

"Don't be like that babe…"

I could hear music and shouting in the background. He was either at a bar or a party, exactly the kind of scenario that had instigated our breakup. He liked to party, and that always involved too much alcohol. "Tim, why'd you call me?"

"I just wanted to see how my girl was….what's your problem?"

"I'm tired, and I'm not your girl. Remember?"

There was a pause, and more shouting in the background. "All I remember is you freakin out at Don's house that one night…."

His speech ran together, and I could hear him swallow another swig. I could just picture him standing there with another beer, he'd probably downed several before that one too. I'd always gotten embarrassed at those parties by the end of the evening, and it didn't feel good to be reminded.

"Because you were drunk, like you are now."

He paused for a minute, his tone changed to angry. "Ya, you were always an uppity little pain the ass. Still think you're better than everyone?"

Hot tear pricked the back of my eyes, I was glad that I was alone so no one could see. "No, please don't call me again. Just leave me alone."

"Oh, I'll leave you alone! That's all you're ever gonna be is alone! Who's gonna want you besides me? No one! You don't have any friends, no life. Pathetic little loner! Enjoy it $%$#." His rambling degraded into a stream of profanity and I clicked my phone shut before he could hear me cry.

I lay down on my bed and muffled the sobs with my pillow. Tim had been an example in bad choices. He'd seemed so nice in the beginning, but his good boy image was all a façade for his closet alcoholism. And he was a mean drunk, name calling and more had ensued before I'd finally broken free of the mess a few months ago.

Even though I knew his nastiness was intoxication induced, his words still stung and I lay there and wondered if he was right. I had no one left really, most of my friends had moved away to go to college while I'd stayed close to home. My mom was remarried and my Dad hadn't been in the picture since I was young. I was left on the sidelines. Tim had been my only link to any kind of social world, outside of class or work, and now that was gone as well. Maybe I _was _destined to be alone.

My brain ached and I pulled my comforter over me, feeling very cold and tired. Sleep came quickly and I welcomed the numbness.

CULLEN WORLD

Jasper felt the sadness suddenly drop down over him like a thick wet cloak. It was palpable, the depth of the despair that surrounded him and it was everything he could do not to get swept up in it himself. He wondered if it was human, but it was so strong it had to be one of his immortal family. Most human emotions didn't affect him quite so heavily, even at close range.

He rose from the couch where he was sitting, his book now forgotten. He could hear the sounds of the sports that Emmett was watching in the other room, and his other senses picked up that Carlisle and Esme were calm in their part of the house. But the sadness was still there, weighing on him. Rosalie was out this afternoon, shopping again he guessed. Sometimes he wondered what she and Alice would occupy their time with if it wasn't for malls. Edward had run off into the mountains for some alone time, no doubt trying to make sense of their visitor from the other day. Everyone knew he was also still avoiding the new girl at school.

Jasper quickly moved upstairs to the room he shared with his beloved. As he opened the door he found her sitting at her desk already watching for him, as per usual.

"You feel it Jas?" Her pretty little forehead was furrowed in thought.

"How could I not? It's pretty strong." Jasper ran a hand through his blond curls and sat uneasily on the edge of their bed. "Did you see who? Everyone here seems fine….but I _still feel_ it."

Alice nodded and concentrated, closing her eyes for a moment. He waited for her to see, to tell him what he was feeling, or more importantly, from whom it emanated.

"Oh!" Her eyes fluttered open in surprise. "Jas, she's coming! She'll be here soon!"

Jasper suddenly stood. "That girl? The Shifter?" He wasn't at all sure what to make of the whole scenario, but it unnerved him. He'd seen more than his share of battle and wasn't interested in dealing with something that had once caused the Volturi concern. But despite his caution and fear, the sadness still gripped him. He tried to send out a vibe of calm, if only to help him focus.

Alice was standing now as well. "It's her Jasper….she's crying, I think." Alice bit her lip, and Jasper could tell that she was feeling for the girl. It relaxed him to watch her, his beautiful love was a tender heart if there could be such a trait in an immortal. Seeing others in pain was hard for her, nearly as much as it was for Esme.

"Jasper, she's going to be out there….in the woods, we need to go. Now."

He nodded, and followed Alice's lead as she quickly moved toward the balcony of their room. Her lithe little figure paused for just a moment before taking a graceful jump down to the grass below. She pirouetted a moment before gesturing for him to follow. He paused only a second to feel the love that swelled in his chest every time he watched her dance. It was one of the many things that he still adored about her, as much as the day she'd found him.

He allowed himself to feel the emotion, and then used his gift to amplify it a little, hoping to send some happiness or peace toward the Shifter, if it was indeed her sadness he was feeling, he hoped it would help.

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	6. Run

LUCY

I was aware of being cold first, colder than I'd been in my bed under the covers. I huddled my frame tighter thinking maybe I'd kicked my covers off. But then the smell of earth and pine snaked into my consciousness and I risked opening an eye.

The woods. I was back in the woods. _Oh dear God, was I going to get lucky enough to have this dream again?_ I still felt the weight of my sadness in my bones and I rolled to look up at the sky, through the maze of tree branches. It was overcast and gloomy again, right on target for this being Forks again. The wind rustled their leaves and swayed them gently, faintly I could smell the ocean. It was really lovely here, no wonder Stephanie Meyer had chosen it as a setting.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position and leaned my forehead on my knees. I was reluctant to get too comfortable, as I didn't know how long this dream would last, despite the staying power of the last one. I was still only dreaming, despite how nice my subconscious made this place seem, it wasn't real. My real life was the depressing ruin I'd left it and the knowledge that I would awake again to it made me sigh.

"Didn't I tell you that you'd come back?" A musical voice lilted out to my left. I recognized it instantly and turned my head.

"Alice." I smiled at her as she gracefully danced into the clearing with all the poise of a prima ballerina. Her raven hair flicked outward becomingly and she wore a knowing grin.

Despite my heavy thoughts, I felt a warm wave of calm and security wash over my senses and I knew he was there even before I saw him. I nodded to myself as I rose to my feet.

"Thanks Jasper." I said softly.

"Don't mention it miss." His southern accent lilted in for a moment as he strode into the clearing to stand protectively beside his mate. Despite his militant posture, his face looked curious and calm. "Can I ask why the sadness?"

I felt blood rush into my cheeks. "You picked up on that?"

He smiled a little. "Like a tidalwave, you project better than I do."

"Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't know." I averted my gaze, embarrassed a little.

"What was the matter Lucy?" Alice asked, moving to my side. She cocked her head a little and offered me a smile.

"I just had a rough night, an unpleasant call from someone, it just kind of built up into a hard moment." I rubbed the toe of my sneaker into the soil, not wanting to look up. The embarrassment of having to tell Jasper and Alice about Tim's drunken phone call was a little overwhelming, I didn't want to go into detail but I had a sense that Alice knew about it anyway.

"Oh….what a jerk Lucy! Did he really say those things to you?" She suddenly blurted out.

I looked up to see her wrinkle her nose at the vision and her pretty little face rumpled into a grimace. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"I thought you couldn't read minds." I teased, feeling better by the moment.

"I can't…but sometimes I can pick up what did happen." She explained. "It's too bad you don't live around here, I would offer to dissemble his car for you or something."

I had to laugh at the mischief in her expression. "Thanks for the offer."

Jasper moved a little closer as well, and I couldn't help myself but marvel about how handsome he was, a perfect counterpart to adorable Alice. My mind tried to remind me that in reality these two were actors in costume and makeup. But you had to have some amazing genetics to be this good looking. I felt plain and mousy standing with them, suddenly painfully aware of my ordinariness, and the plain jeans and sweater I found myself wearing.

"What's wrong now?" Jasper cocked an eyebrow.

"Nothing…" I paused and regarded them both. Something was different in the way they watched me this time. Less fear and caution but more curiousity. "What changed?"

They both looked at me quizzically.

"I mean, when I was here before, your whole family seemed angry or fearful. Now you guys seem different. And not surprised to see me at all." I directed the last remark toward Alice who winked.

"When you vanished like that the other day, Carlisle had some revelations as to what you are." Jasper spoke clearly.

I was the curious one now. "What I am? You mean besides a dreamer with an obsession?"

Jasper nodded. "Carlisle believes that you're something called a Shifter. He'll have to tell you about it. It was something that came across the Volturri's path when he lived with them. He told us that Shifters had the gift of being able to move between realities."

I smiled a bit more, staring at their beauty made it hard to stay sad. Not too mention that part of me was slightly giddy that I was getting to spend some time with them again, especially when my dream versions of them seemed so impossibly real.

"So….you guys think I'm real?"

"You certainly appear to be." Alice reached out and took my hands into hers, her eyes twinkling. "See, you're physically present."

Her touch was the same cold skin that I'd felt before, but her hold this time was soft and sure. Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she watched a vision play out. It only lasted a moment before she grinned again. "And you might as well get used to us, because I see you visiting quite often."

I started a little at her remark. _She saw me coming back. I would get to keep having these dreams?_ It seemed to good to be true. I liked the smile she wore, it reeked of mischief and fun. I'd always wanted a best friend, and had never had the good fortune to have one for very long. Between multiple moves, and often school switches I'd never had the chance. My rational mind screamed at me not to get too involved, as the loss of this dream would be more crippling. But I pushed those thoughts away and made a decision right then and there to just go with the flow and try and enjoy this time with them, despite the fact that it was all in my head.

"Oh!" Alice squeezed my hands slightly tighter as something else came to her. This vision was longer and Jasper moved toward us, putting one arm around her shoulders and watching her face intently. I noticed he didn't seem to have an aversion to standing so close to me, and I wondered if the fact that I was dreaming made my humanity less of a temptation. I was about to ask, but I was currently more curious about what Alice was seeing.

"What do you see?" Jasper asked her.

"Pages being erased…..Lucy's with us….she came back and …..it changed something..." Alice murmured, as she came back to us.

"What changed? What is it?" I asked.

"It's hard to make sense of it. I just saw you with us, and Edward it changed something else for him. Decisions are changing, not just yours…. And there's that other layer to the vision that I see when it's about you Lucy. This time the other layer looked like a book…but the words were being erased."

A chill ran down my spine, and it gripped me tighter as she spoke the next few words.

"A book with a chess piece on the cover….." Alice smiled as she dismissed it, most likely to ponder more deeply later on.

"You know that book…..it's scaring you." Jasper said slowly as he watched my face. "Lucy, relax." He moved to place his free hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay." I tried to shake off the feeling, remembering now what he said about my projection. "Let's not talk about that right now though okay, I don't know how long I have here. Regardless of what we all think is happening with me, I'd like to enjoy my visit this time."

Alice caught my drift, I liked her more and more by the minute. She shook her head to dismiss the odd vision and grinned. "Well then, in that case let's have some fun!" She looked about for a moment, gauging something.

"What did you have in mind?" I was half scared, half excited.

"Do you like roller coasters Lucy?"

"Sure."

Alice leaned close to whisper something in Jasper's ear. His expression relaxed and I saw a gleefully evil smile bloom across his handsome features. I took a step back from them, wondering what I had just got myself into.

They both faced me then, Jasper held out his hand. "Are you game?"

I weighed my thoughts. If this was a dream, nothing could really happen to me. And I had to admit that being with them eased the pain of my loneliness, each moment I spent here made my real life seem further away. Why not?'

I took his hand and squeezed. " Bring it."

Jasper threw back his head and let out a throaty laugh, Alice's giggle sounded like the chiming of bells. I couldn't help but join them, although I was sure this joke was going to be at my expense.

"Climb on then, little Lucy." Jasper coaxed, moving around me and kneeling so I could clamber onto his back. I hesitated a moment.

"Scared?" Alice teased.

"No, but can I ask you something?" I said as I carefully climbed onto his back and wrapped my arms around his cool neck, trying to ignore just how good his blond curls smelled.

"Shoot."

"In the books you are the one who…." I stopped quickly, not wanting to remind us all of the fiction. "I mean….doesn't the smell of my blood, with me this close, make you uncomfortable?"

Jasper stood as if I weighed nothing and looked over his shoulder at me. "Normally it would….but you have a different scent." He took one of my hands from his throat and brought it his face, inhaling. "It's not mortal." He let go and gave Alice a look, they were clearly cataloging that information to report back to Carlisle.

"Are you ready?" Alice changed the subject, I saw her moving into step beside Jasper, crouching down…like a runner at the starting gate. _She'd asked about roller coasters…..I _remembered Bella's description of running with Edward, how fast….

I suddenly realized what they had in mind and I tightened my hold on Jasper, to the point where I would have been hurting him, had he not been a vampire. He laughed again.

"I won't let you fall, I promise."

"Okay."

"On your mark, get set…."Alice's tinkling voice called out, I could feel Jasper getting ready to spring.

"Go!"

At first I closed my eyes, a little scared to look. But then I gathered up my courage and opened them. The forest streaked by us at an alarming rate, the individual trees reduced to a blur of green and brown. I held on as tightly as I could while Jasper jumped over logs and ducked under branches. As I got accustomed to the speed I began to laugh, the adrenaline pumped through my veins and the fun of this really sunk in. I wasn't scared at all anymore, it really was like riding a roller coaster. He didn't turn my way, but I could hear in his voice that he was feeling my excitement.

"Are you okay?" Jasper asked, not slowing his pace at all.

"I'm great. Can you go faster?" I challenged.

That incited a deep rumbling laugh in him, one that I could feel as it vibrated through his chest. Alice slowed in front of us a little.

"What's funny?" She asked, her run looking more like a dance than athletics.

"She wants to go faster." Jasper chuckled.

Alice's laugh tinkled like bells. "I think we're going to get along just fine!"

With that she took off so fast I could barely see her and Jasper's pace intensified as did the height of his jumps. Thoughts of a dream and my world felt fuzzy and faint now as I gave myself up to the fun of this. My world slipped further away as we ran and for the first time in a long time, I felt free and happy.

I hugged Jasper tighter around the neck and leaned to whisper in his ear.

"Thank You!"

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Edward finally abandoned his thoughtful spot and took off for a quick hunt before heading back home. He had still yet to decide what he was going to do about school, he'd had a few ideas such as asking Carlisle to report that he'd decided to homeschool him, or something so he wouldn't have to be trapped in a classroom with Isabella's scent. It would probably be best for all involved. He would have some more peace at least from the cacophony of the high school student's thoughts. But then again, that would leave him on his own all the time and prone to more boredom and melancholy.

He sprinted through the forest, hoping to find a mountain lion or maybe a bear. Using his senses he picked up on the trail of an elk herd and figured it would do. He let go and really pumped his legs as the green of the trees became a streaking blur until he came upon the herd grazing in a clearing. He pushed his analyzing to the back and concentrated simply on the hunt. With such speed that the animal hardly had a chance to register his presence he was upon an older buck and drained it before moving onto another. He chose older bucks that grazed near the outside of the herd, so as not to panic them all. He also felt less guilty about the killing when he felt as if he followed the flow of nature. The elder bucks had already procreated and fulfilled their cycle.

After he downed a handful of elk he felt full and slowed himself to a stop near the outskirts of where they grazed. A few had noticed the activity and had moved further, but in all they did not appear to be poised for flight or stampeding. He nodded to himself, feeling more calm now that his thirst was quenched.

Suddenly another sound could be heard faintly and Edward snapped to attention. Laughter? The sound got closer and after a second he could hear their thoughts, Alice…Jasper…they were running but….he was suddenly very alert as he recognized the joyful voice of the third person. _Lucy!_ He looked around to see the direction that they were coming. They were moving very fast as their thoughts and Lucy's audible laughter gained volume quickly. Her thoughts were loud and clear to him. He could hear the relief and joy in her mind. Edward couldn't help himself but to smile.

In a second they all bounded into the clearing and skidded to a halt. Edward was surprised to see Lucy clinging to Jasper's back, her arms tight around his neck. An instant flash of unknown emotion blew through him at the sight of her wrapped around his brother. It was fierce and unexpected, unknown. It only lasted a second as he saw Jasper look at him quizzically, and he quickly shoved the emotion away and focused on the curiosity of running into his siblings, and Lucy together.

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


	7. Tentative

LUCY

I had to close my eyes as Jasper quickly halted in his run, to avoid getting too dizzy from the swift change of pace. I waited a second before opening them again to see the reason for the sudden stop.

Looking as heart achingly lovely as usual, Edward stood there in the clearing watching us. He was dressed again, more casual than I'd ever seen him in the movies. Dark jeans and a gray plaid shirt, his black converse sneakers were dirty from the muddy earth. I liked that _My_ Edward seemed to be a little less pressed and perfect in his attire.

Something flashed across his gorgeous features for a second and I felt Jasper tense in the slightest, but whatever passed between them was quick and unspoken as Edward shook it off and began to move toward us.

I let go of Jasper and hopped down to the grass, running a hand through my messy curls, hoping to straighten it. I couldn't help but be self conscious in their presence…so much beauty, especially Edward, it was a little overwhelming. Alice gracefully moved to my side.

"Hello again." I ventured as no one broke the silence. I forced myself to stay calm as I offered Edward a timid smile.

He said nothing for a moment, his eyes locking with mine. His buttery irises indicated he'd hunted recently and I felt no fear, especially after Jasper's remark about my scent not being mortal. If any fear lingered in me, it was only fear of rebuff from the handsome vampire who stared at me.

That thought illicited a crooked smile from Edward and I let out the breath I'd been holding. At least my crazy thoughts entertained him on some level, if nothing else.

"So you've returned." He said slowly, flicking his gaze over at Alice.

"I told you so." She chimed, before turning to me. "He was skeptical."

I laughed at her expression. "Even I know better than to bet against Alice."

Both guys chuckled then, and the sight of Edward happy and laughing was enough to make my heart ache. In the films he'd always seemed to melancholy, his expression pained, depressed even. But this look, and the sound of his laugh….oh it was so much better.

"They told you about Carlisle's theory?" Edward asked, once he regained control.

I nodded. "It's pretty farfetched to me, I'm still thinking I've got an overactive imagination. But on the other hand, you all seem so real and ….." I faltered, not sure of how much to reveal. And I've had more joy being here than I've had in a year of my real life, I thought….then hoped he wasn't listening to closely.

His smile waned a bit, but then he spoke again. "Carlisle believes that you are shifting between realities, ours and your own. You keep assuming you're dreaming, but he claimed the Volturri reported that most Shifters were confused when they first began their movement."

"Realities?" I didn't want to think about my home, my run with Jasper and Alice had been too much fun, I didn't want to think about the bleak wasteland that awaited me when this dream ended.

Edward's brow furrowed in concern for a moment and then he shifted his gaze to his siblings. "So you were showing off I take it?"

Alice laughed. "She said she wanted to have some fun, and she admitted to enjoying roller coasters. We thought we'd show her our version."

He smiled again then, looking down and revealing his perfectly white teeth. "And you enjoyed that I gather?" His eyes flicked back toward mine.

"Oh yes!" Even faster would have been more fun….I thought.

Edward laughed again to himself. "You like to go fast Lucy?"

"It was such a rush, like flying."

"I see." He sobered again. "We should take you to talk to Carlisle, I know he's got a load of questions he wants to ask to find out more about you, and how you're doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Coming and going between worlds."

I sighed. "I'm not, but if you all believe I am….I'll answer whatever he wants." As long as it's not about the books, I thought, but then quickly tried to cover it with a manufactured thought about my clothes.

Edward moved to stand before me, his eyes scanning my face. Had he caught what I was hiding? Was I fast enough in my thinking? I focused my thoughts this time on the buttons of his shirt, before I betrayed myself into giving away too much.

"Should we take you back then?" He asked.

I looked up into his face. This close to me, I could smell his scent that balanced precariously between an inviting musk and the woody scent of sandalwood. I had to fight not to lose myself in the depth of his golden eyes. _God, I don't ever want to go back…._

"To Carlisle." He said, his voice lowered to a gentle hum.

"Oh…." I looked away immediately. "sure, if that's what you think is best."

Alice giggled quietly and distracted me from my reverie. She had moved back to Jasper's side and the two of them were watching us with small smiles.

"Maybe you should ride with Edward this time, that is if he doesn't mind." Alice tittered in a knowing tone. I looked at her curiously, wondering if she knew something or was merely teasing him.

"You don't have to." I said quickly, slightly insecure.

Edward smiled then. "No, I do. If you thought Jasper was fast….I'd love to show you otherwise." His tone was lighter and laced with mischief.

"Oh give me a break!" Jasper groaned. "You're not THAT much faster than me."

"I'll even give you two a headstart and we'll see who gets there first. Go." Edward teased, but Alice and Jasper took his challenge and vanished from the clearing.

. "Really? You don't mind?"

Edward moved around me and knelt so I could gently climb on. "It would be my pleasure, Lucy."

Hearing my name from his mouth sent a shiver down my spine. I felt the lonely ice wall around my heart melt just a little more and my rational mind tried to spare me the heartache of getting too involved with this fantasy, but I pushed it away. I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck and breathed in his scent as deep as I could. For a moment I forgot that he might be listening, and I tried to forget that I didn't belong in this moment, in this world. He was very still as I settled myself on his back. I leaned in close to his cheek and tried to gauge his reaction to my closeness.

"Are you all right, Edward?" I asked.

He was strong and steadfast as he stood, as if I weighed less than a feather, he moved to look over his shoulder at me. As I said his name, a humble smile fluttered over his lips, lighting up his features becomingly. "I'm good."

I tightened my grip as he prepared to run.

"Edward?"

"Yes Lucy."

" I know it's crazy and it doesn't make any sense….but I'm glad I'm here."

He paused for a moment and then moved just a small amount so that his cheek leaned against mine. "So am I."


	8. Questions

Running with Edward was like riding the wind. Jasper had been fast, but it was as if one compared riding a in a racecar to a hurricane wind. Edward moved smoother, and so fast that the impact of his feet hitting the ground barely registered to me. The forest fell away into a haze of green as I tried not to lose myself in this moment. As I clung tightly to him, I tried to remember that I was dreaming, that this wasn't real…but I could feel the wind on my face, I could smell the scent of the damp woods and I could feel the cold skin of Edward's neck against my hands. Every second that passed I felt calmer, more at peace than I'd been in years, despite the fact that I was currently holding onto a vampire fantasy that was rocketing through the brush.

I knew that it should bother me when I had trouble recalling the exact color of my toothbrush, or the digits of my phone number, but it was like registering a color through smoke. I was aware that it might be a bad sign, but I was too enthralled with my present to become alarmed. I hoped that Edward wasn't listening too closely to my thoughts, hoped that he had to be tuning them out to pay attention to the skill of his run. His speed was so great that he had to be concentrating on the objects he dodged and darted over and around.

In a matter of moments he came to the river and in a heartbeat he launched us up and over in an impossible jump. His landing was sure and solid and I felt only a small impact as he hit the lawn behind his home. I was sad to have to let go, but knew that I had to and softly slid to the ground. I looked around and realized that we had beat Alice and Jasper, they were nowhere to be seen.

"Jasper talks big, but he knows that he could never beat me in a race." Edward smiled proudly as he turned to face me. His happy expression dazzled me and I had to look toward the river.

"I don't want to wake up…." I murmured to myself as I surveyed the beauty of the area, wrapping my arms around my waist.

"What happens when you do?" He asked, moving to stand just behind me. I could feel his closeness, not in the human way as no warmth radiated from him, but in a different way, like hearing music.

"I go back to my life I guess," I said quietly, still scanning the trees for his siblings.

"What's it like….there?"

I wanted to lean back against him, to belong here with him. It felt so natural, like I was meant to be. "Not as nice as here." My thoughts ran back to the stupid phone call from Tim, and I shook my head. "Not even close."

I felt Edward stiffen behind me, and I looked down and back to see his hands near his side, clenched into fists. I wondered what was wrong, but was afraid to ask. I moved my gaze back to the trees.

We stood in silence for a few seconds, but then I felt him move that last inch closer so his chest was touching my back. I knew it was wrong, that he belonged with Bella, but I rationed to myself that my dreams couldn't possibly affect the very story that inspired them. Why couldn't I have a little bit of paradise, if only in my dreams? I leaned back and let his scent envelop me.

"Can I ask you a question Lucy?"

"Yes."

"Why do you think that I belong with the Swan girl?" His voice was soft but somber.

"Because you do….that's how it happens." I didn't want to talk about this, it brought up too many contradictions about how and why I was here.

"Do you really think that it has to be the way you read? Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it won't matter…." He murmured.

"I don't know Edward."_ I'm afraid of doing too much damage_….I thought.

I could tell he was about to ask me something else, but right then Alice and Jasper burst from the trees, leaping over the river. Jasper's jump was straight and sure, while Alice performed something that looked like a double forward flip to land silently in the grass nearby. She pranced over with a broad smile, I stepped away from Edward toward her.

"We beat you by a good couple minutes…" I laughed.

"Oh I knew you would…."

"Of course." She made me feel better, bringing my thoughts back to this time and place rather than my own.

"Shall we?" Jasper asked, motioning toward the back staircase. He was watching Edward with an analytical expression and I briefly wondered why, but Alice caught ahold of my hand and pulled me up the staircase.

"Come on Lucy, you don't have much time left with us. Let's get you to Carlisle."

I understood, but wanted to ask one favor. "Can you warn me before it happens Alice? So I'm ready?"

"I will."

"Thank you."

In the living room, Emmett was planted in front of an enormous flat screen television, yelling at the players displayed there. He swiveled his head around as we entered the room. He looked surprised to see me with Alice, but quickly covered it with an easy grin.

"Hey, you made it back."

"Looks like it…hey Emmett."

Edward and Jasper shadowed Alice and I as we entered the room, Emmett grinned at his brothers but then moved his eyes to the staircase.

"Lucy, you've returned." I recognized the smooth tones of Carlisle's voice and turned to see him standing on the stairway, Esme just behind him.

"Yes." I was at a loss for what to say. "I'm sorry about my last departure….if it frightened you." I remembered Rosalie's scream.

They moved down the rest of the stairs to stand before us. "Don't think of it Lucy, we were surprised I'll admit. I suppose we're not used to a mortal being able to catch us off guard." He seemed so at ease.

"Hello Lucy, welcome back." Esme smiled warmly.

"Thank you for having me." It sounded strange to be so cordial considering the oddity of my presence in their world, let alone their home.

"She knows we're curious and I told her about your theory. She's open to answering your questions." Edward explained, entering the conversation.

"Wonderful, would you like to sit down?" He gestured toward the immaculate white furniture. I did as he suggested and Emmett muted the sound on the television, but his eyes flicked back and forth keeping an eye on the score. The others alighted on various pieces around the room, Alice sat beside me on the sofa.

"She doesn't have much time left Carlisle." Alice said quietly.

"Oh, I wasn't aware, in that case let me ask a few things. First, Edward explained that you seem to think that you are dreaming when you visit us, so it is only happening when you believe you're sleeping?"

I nodded. "Last time I slept the entire night through, when I normally wake up multiple times."

"And this time….what was happening before you arrived here?"

"I was in bed…..tired….and…." I faltered, not wanting to explain the nasty phone call and my despair to them all. Jasper and Alice already knew and I had a sneaking feeling that meant Edward did too.

"I saw her coming and we met her in the woods." Alice offered.

"I see. And you said before that you knew quite a bit about us and our world. You claim to have this knowledge from a book you read?"

"True."

"In that book it told you about our immortality? Our gifts?"

"Yes. I also know that your thirst makes you sensitive to the smell of blood. That was why I was concerned about being in the same room as you all. In the books you were all aware of how Bella…." I quickly stopped talking and tried to think of something else, I looked at Alice's cute ballet flats and wondered where she'd bought them.

Edward furrowed his brow. "She apparently knows quite a bit about my gift considering that she's blocking me from reading her thoughts correctly." He mused.

Carlisle flicked him a curious glance but then returned his focus to me.

"You are right about our thirst Lucy, but for some reason you don't smell the same as the mortals here in our world. You don't smell…..for lack of a better word, edible." He gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Well, I guess I'm thankful. I wouldn't want to be making you all uncomfortable."

Emmett laughed. "You mean, you wouldn't want to be on the menu!"

"That too." His mirth brought a smile out of me.

"Does our town exist in your world?"

"Forks, Washington? Yes it does. The writer of your book used a real place as her inspiration for the story location." It seemed safe enough to reveal that.

"Do you live nearby?"

"No, further south."

"She only has moments left Carlisle." Alice interrupted.

"All right then, in that case I'd like you to do something for me Lucy, an experiment if you will. If you're correct and you're simply dreaming than nothing will be lost and you can go on living normally."

"Okay."

"I would like for you to look towards the end of the stories you've read about us, and look for anything that's changed. Also, you can try looking up anything on a place in England called Carlisle Castle. If it exists in your world, it may give us a clue as to what's going on."

Alice squeezed my hand. "You've got maybe a minute now."

I stood up quickly. "Thank you, it was lovely to see you all again."

"Likewise Lucy." Esme said quickly.

"Goodbye."

I moved toward the doorway I'd come in through, for some reason not wanting to subject them to the disappearing act that had seemed so unnerving to them before. I stumbled over the doorframe and out onto the back deck, away from them even though it pained me to lose their company.

"Lucy, wait…." Edward's voice lilted out behind me as I moved down the stairs, back toward the trees. I didn't know where I was going, only that I was about to wake.

"I can't… I can't control…." I didn't want to look at him again, it was only going to make it hurt worse.

"Please!" I stopped short at his pleading tone. She'd said I only had a minute, now it was more likely seconds. I turned quickly and drank in one last look at his face.

"What do I do about Isabella? I don't want…." He faltered.

"Go back to school, talk to her, you'll be able to control your reaction this time." It hurt to force these words out but I rushed on. "And watch for her in the parking lot the following day….she'll need you to be there."

I didn't want to push him away from me, toward Bella…but I knew that it would happen anyway. I felt the pull now, I would wake any second.

"What if I don't want to?" He stepped in so close that my vision was filled with the plaid of his shirt.

"Edward, you have to." I breathed, the pull was getting stronger now and I couldn't fight it any longer.

"I will…I'll do it if you'll come back."

"I'll try, Edward….I'll try."

And then he was gone, and everything went dark.

()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


	9. Changing

CULLEN WORLD

Edward lounged on the chaise in his room and brushed his fingers over the intricate leather designs embossed on the cover of his current journal. It had been a gift from Esme, knowing his fondness for journals and writing. The black leather had an embossed design of celtic knots and a pewter closure. He'd been saving this particular journal because of it's uniqueness, waiting for something interesting to fill it with, other than just the monotony of his ordinary days. Now he felt compelled to fill it….for Lucy's appearance in his world had brought so many questions and confusion that it warranted its own volume.

He chose a fountain pen from his collection, shiny and black to match the journal's leather. That was one of his habits with his writing, each book warranted it's own pen. He opened the pages and lay on his stomach as he regarded the blank slate it presented. Slowly he began to write as he conjured up in the images in his mind, he recalled that afternoon when he'd returned from one of his hunts to find his family perplexed over Emmett's discovery. He'd had a chance to observe her from behind for a moment before announcing his presence. Lucy had seemed normal enough, black curls that fell down her back, small in stature. But when he'd tuned in on her thoughts, they were so bizarre that they'd confused him entirely. She rambled on in her thoughts about actors, movies, book chapters, quotes from a story ran through her mind as she stared at his siblings. He tried to recall it all as he wrote, picking up speed as page after page began to fill with flowing script.

He thought back to that morning when she'd returned. Alice had claimed she would return, but he'd been doubtful after the strangeness of her disappearance. But she had come back and brought her perplexing mind back to him. The moments he'd spent with her that day he'd etched on his brain with clarity. She had seemed more at ease this time, although there was a lingering air of longing and sadness about her, making her seem more vulnerable and mortal. She'd seemed to bond with Alice, and be comfortable enough with Jasper to accept his offer of a ride. Most mortals were the most intimidated and fearful of Jasper out of his whole family. Jasper still struggled with bloodlust and it often gave him a tense expression when in public. Edward, having heard his brother's thoughts many times felt guilty as he knew that whenever his family congregated near humans, Jasper had to bear the brunt of not only his own bloodlust, but the whole families as well. He had a will of iron as far as Edward was concerned. The fact that Lucy seemed at ease with him made her even more of a mystery.

Edward recalled when he'd carried Lucy back to their home. Part of him had been thrilled to have a chance to get closer to the intriguing mortal girl, the Shifter as Carlisle had referred to her. Her mind had been a mix of longing, shyness, and a warm emotion as she looked at him. He'd never read that kind of feeling from a mortal, at least not one that was invoked by him. He'd been slightly guilty as he felt he was invading her privacy by reading her thoughts, but then again she seemed oddly aware of his ability to do so, often diverting her thoughts from things she didn't want him to know, and even blocking him during their conversation with Carlisle. It was unnerving that she seemed to know so much of him and of the family, and then her mentioning the Swan girl again. What was so special about Isabella?

He thought about Lucy's plea …that he talk to Isabella, attempt to be nice, and something about needing to be in the parking lot of the school at a certain time. What did that mean? He wished that he had Alice's gift of future seeing so he could have a clue about what Lucy meant, although he'd already grilled his sister and she seemed to be having trouble seeing exactly what was supposed to happen. The visions kept changing, overlapping, even erasing. Alice had finally had enough and demanded that no one ask her to make any more projections about the Swan girl for at least a week.

Carlisle had been looking up everything he could on the phenomena of what the Volturri had called Shifting. He claimed that there were human records on the subject although most had been debunked as lunatic theories or science fiction, he spend many of his off hours scouring the internet for the right facts to help them all understand what exactly Lucy was and how she was able to move between the two realms.

"Although she would argue with us…" he murmured to himself, smiling a little at the thought that if she were there she would be arguing mentally that she was simply dreaming.

As he continued writing he came to a memory that brought on that hot unfamiliar emotion again. He recalled seeing her wrapped around Jasper, and although he knew that neither hers nor his brothers' thoughts were romantic towards each other he had felt so strange seeing her like that. He had pushed them away in the moment before Jasper could question him, sometimes it was hard having an empathy for a brother, as it often allowed Jasper a similar insight into his mind that he had into all others.

Edward closed his eyes and thought of how Lucy had clung to his back, touched her cheek to his own, she had been warm and soft against him and it had been so long since a human touched him, let alone reacted with something other than revulsion. Her thoughts had been affectionate and full of longing at their closeness and Edward had wondered if she had some kind of power over him as he had felt hypnotized by her. By the time they'd arrived at his home, he'd found himself craving her touch, her scent and he'd been plagued by a desire that he'd never felt before, not even as a human. Lucy had seemed to echo his feeling, and it had nearly made him weak as he'd heard in her thoughts the desire to touch him again.

He'd granted both their wishes by moving close enough to allow her to lean against him, letting her scent surround him, her closeness begin to melt the frigid exterior he always kept up. Their moment together had been short lived and he'd glimpsed something in her mind that had nearly ruined it. Something about a nasty conversation she'd had before her Shift. When he'd felt her sadness at that memory, it had taken everything in him to not find something to smash, and he remembered thinking that the stupid mortal man was lucky that they did not share a realm.

The light of dawn slowly crept into his room, although the dawn in Forks was muted by the cloud cover. He finished scribbling the last bit of his notes into the journal and put it away. He moved over to his closet and half heartedly chose what he would wear this day to school. The last place he wanted to be was Forks high school, but he had promised Lucy that he would adhere to her version of events for now. He would go and control himself around the Swan girl. But Lucy's vision of events was already wrong, Edward thought. In her thoughts he'd read that his likeness had fallen in love with Isabella, and wanted to be around her. In his reality…he was going because he wanted Lucy to return.

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

LUCY

As I woke I nearly screamed. The shock and pain of leaving their world for mine was physical, and my stomach heaved suddenly. It was all I could do to make it into my bathroom in time. As I sat on the cold tile, shaking off the last of the dry heaves I pressed my hands to my face.

"What's happening to me? Am I really going crazy?" I whispered.

That dream had been so real and enthralling. I could still feel the touch of Edward's skin against my arms when I'd clung to him, his scent still filled my nostrils. I was really losing my mind.

The clock on my wall read 9:30 am….I'd slept nearly 12 hours! I quickly got myself into the shower and turned the water up quite hot to try and shock myself back to reality. I had a sinking sensation that whatever was happening was picking up steam, getting stronger.

"It was a dream you idiot!" I yelled at myself over the roar of the water.

My head swam for a moment and I leaned it against the shower wall, letting the water run down my back. I felt a pressure inside my chest, like someone had knocked the wind out of me, and my subconscious cried for what I was missing. Him. I wanted him back, I wanted to be back there with them. I didn't want to be here at all.

"A dream…." I murmured. "They have to just be dreams."

I finished getting ready and was readying myself to leave the apartment when I remembered Carlisle's challenge. I printed out more copies of my resume and chewed my lip. It surely couldn't hurt to prove to myself that it wasn't real, could it?

I opened another window on my computer and googled Carlisle Castle. I found information about an English castle by that name. Nothing strange though, only that it was the sight of many disputes, and even claimed to be a place where Mary queen of scots had been imprisoned. Nothing earth shattering. Maybe it was nothing.

I looked over at my bookshelf that held almost all of my books. I sighed as I looked over the titles of the three black spines…..wait a minute, three? I jumped up and looked all over the shelf for the fourth book. It was nowhere….I moved all over my apartment, looking even in closets and under my bed. No fourth book. Moving back to the computer I slowly typed the authors name into a search box. Listings for twilight, New moon, and Eclipse abounded…..nothing about Breaking Dawn…nothing about any plans for a fourth book.

"What's going on!" I yelled at my computer.

I clicked onto the authors' official site and the welcome title I read there chilled my blood.

The Twilight Trilogy…..trilogy….that meant only three.

"But you wrote four!" I whispered, lowering my head onto my desk and closing my eyes. I concentrated on my breathing for a moment, afraid that I was going to pass out.

Why was I the only one who seemed aware of a fourth book? And Alice in my dream had seen it being erased?

Could it be true? Was I really what Carlisle claimed? A Shifter?

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

CULLEN WORLD

Edward tried to be cordial to Isabella as she sat beside him in Biology. She looked angry at him, most likely for his rude reaction to her when she'd first arrived in town. Recalling his promise to Lucy, he'd tried his best to be nice to the girl.

He had tried to ignore the tempting aroma of her blood as he asked her stupid questions about the weather and her family. One thing he did notice that was strange, her thoughts were silent. From the other students he could hear a cacophony of brainless chatter, but from her….nothing. Lucy hadn't said that Bella would be immune to his gift….had she known?

After class he followed her, continuing to prattle at her for a few more moments, until Bella picked up on the change in his eye color. Her perception unnerved him and made an excuse to leave quickly.

The whole morning felt forced to Edward, like he was a puppet doing someone else's bidding. Nothing against Bella Swan, she was a nice enough human girl, despite her maddening aroma. But he was thankful to remove himself from her company, and stop taxing his control. As he drove home, he thought again of Lucy. Her face appeared in his mind and he felt that bizarre warm emotion flood through him.

"I did what you asked Lucy." He sighed into the silence of his empty car. "Now come back to me."


	10. Return

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LUCY

I was shaken by what I had discovered. I tried to get my mind onto other matters by leaving the apartment to drop off some more copies of my resume. It didn't work, as I drove, I thought of them. The Cullens. I couldn't get my mind out of my dream world, although now I wasn't sure if it was really dreams.

I found myself going to the local Borders and making a beeline for the section they had devoted to the Twilight saga books and merchandise. I don't know if I expected to find Breaking Dawn there or not, but I still looked. It wasn't there, and there was nothing in any of the books or packaging that indicated a fourth book ever existed. Everything was labeled "trilogy" .I was beginning to wonder if this is what the beginnings of insanity felt like.

"Aren't those books great?" A woman's voice asked me as I stared at the back of a copy of Eclipse.

I was so lost in my own thoughts it took a moment to answer. "Yes, they are."

"I've read all three at least four times. They're almost like a drug." She laughed as she shelved a copy from her cart .I saw from her nametag that she was an employee.

"Do you know if there are plans for a fourth book? Have you heard anything?"

The woman turned to look at me with a confused smile. "No, it was pretty clear that the author intended it to be a trilogy."

"Really? Nothing about Breaking Dawn?" I blurted out.

She stared at me for a moment. "I think you might be thinking of a different series."

I shook my head and put the copy of Eclipse back. "Maybe."

"That's a good idea for a title though if she ever did write any more about the vampires. Are you team Jacob or team Edward?" She laughed.

This I answered without thinking. "Edward."

"I always liked Jacob myself….Bella never seemed right for Edward."

I nodded. I actually did agree with her now, although because selfishly I felt like he was right for someone else, me.

"Did you need help finding anything before I go?" She changed the subject.

"Actually, yes do you have anything on dimensions? Parallel dimensions, realities?"

She looked perplexed. "You might want to try the metaphysical section, or maybe in the science fiction."

I nodded and she walked away, I noticed her shaking her head. She probably thought I was a nutcase. That makes two of us lady.

I wandered into the section she mentioned and scoured the titles. Most of them were not what I wanted. But then I saw one that caught my eye, the title being "So you're slipping…." Slipping sounded a lot like the term Carlisle had used…shifting. I pulled the spine out and browsed the first chapter. The blurb continued where the title had left off with the phrase… "So you've started slipping…into other dimensions that is. If you're reading this, you most likely think you're insane, or that you have the most vivid dreams of anyone you know. Well my friend, if you are truly slipping, this book may help you. If you're not, put it back because you will never truly understand what lies within."

There was no photo on the back of the author, and indeed there was no listing for who had written it. The book was plain with a gray cover and black title. I flipped through the first few pages, and there was no publishers page listing or copyright either. I felt the hairs begin to stand up on the back of my neck.

Quickly I made my way to the register and pulled out my wallet. When the cashier went to scan the book he looked perplexed as the register beeped angrily.

"Is something wrong?"

"This book isn't one of ours, there's no tag."

"Someone could have peeled it off."

He nodded and frowned as he typed something into the computer. More angry beeps.

"It's not listed in our catalog, where did you find it?"

"In the shelf?" This was getting weirder by the minute.

He banged on more keys and illicited more beeps from the register. The guy sighed and rubbed his temple, then looked forward and looked around. No one was in line.

"Listen, I don't want to have to call my manager, he's in a crappy mood today. Just take it. I'll bag it like you paid and everything."

I nodded. I'd worked years in retail, managers could be a huge pain. He bagged the book and handed it to me with a grateful smile.

"Thank you."

Later I lay upon my bed and began to read. The first chapter continued past the blurb I had read, and as I read it began to give me the shivers.

_"First of all…I know you probably have thought that your slips were dreams. I'm here to tell you that they are not. Dreams are not tangible, if you can smell in a dream….it's not an actual dream, it's a slip. And that place you go to is real. I know that when you assume that you are dreaming that it's all in your head. It is and it isn't. The ability is in your mind, but the world itself and the people or creatures you encounter are real. What has to be taken seriously most of all is whether what you do in your slips changes your home world. Only the most powerful of us can affect our homeworld when we slip, and it usually occurs because the reality you have slipped to has already been visited by another person from your realm. Often this occurs when you slip to place you have read about or seen pictures in a film."_

I slammed the book shut and sat up. What on earth? Was this for real? My hands were clammy and I felt chilled. Hesitantly I opened the book back up.

"Most likely this knowledge will scare you, but keep reading. If you have affected your home world you will need this guide even more because you will need to learn the control techniques that we will teach you."

I kept reading as it moved on to talk about how to control the length of time that you 'left' and how and when you left and returned. The 'we' that had written this apparently believed that when an individual 'slipped' into another reality or world that they were creating the physical manifestation of themselves in that other realm, while the original body remained in the home world. It was their belief that the mind/spirit was what moved and had the power to recreate itself in another place.

This all sounded so unreal, but lately a lot of things seemed strange and bizarre. Impossible things that couldn't have happened had and I was beginning to have more faith in the strange than in the normal.

I rolled over to look up at the ceiling, and thought of Edward. Was it possible that my time with him had been real? In some other dimension? I remembered his scent and the feeling of holding onto him. It had been such a slice of heaven to be there, and the possibility that it could be something I could do again, and have more control over? I chewed my lip….wondering if I was really going crazy? I had been alone a lot lately, maybe my lonely mind was just losing it.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on deep breathing as I thought about all of this new information. Then I heard a whisper in my ear…so low….yet I could still hear it clearly.

_I did what you asked Lucy. Now come back to me._

"Edward!" I opened my eyes and sat up shocked. His voice in my mind had been soft and clear. Nothing about my room had changed, even the strange book still lay beside me open to the page I'd been reading. But I'd heard him, and I was awake!

"This is crazy…." I breathed, looking back down at the book. The next chapter was about learning how to control the ability to slip between. I eagerly began reading again.

"I'm coming Edward. Sanity be damned, I'm coming."

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

CULLEN WORLD

Edward stood uneasily beside the car, trying to ignore the thoughts of the human's around him. Alice twirled her umbrella in the drizzle and Jasper was breathing deep lungfulls of the fresh wet air to rinse the tempting human scents out of his system. He knew that Alice and Jasper were aware of his quandary about Bella and what Lucy had told him. He'd confided in them the night before about Lucy's strange request for him to be in the parking lot. He'd asked them to stay with him for the moments before the school bell rang to see what she'd been referring to.

"She'll be back Edward, I've seen it." Alice said gently, touching the arm of his jacket.

He nodded, and risked another glance at Bella. She was currently shoving books into her bag, listening to music from her ipod. He still couldn't hear any of her thoughts and it unnerved him. Lucy had told him that Bella would need him to be here right now and he waited from something to manifest itself to explain. He half hoped that Lucy would show up and explain herself, but he knew that Alice would have warned him if she knew about that possibility.

"You like her don't you?" Jasper said, cutting through his reverie.

Edward grimaced. "She's all right, for a human. Her blood smells too strongly though."

"Not her…I meant Lucy." Jasper grinned.

Edward was about to answer, when the screeching of tires startled the three of them. He whipped his eyes around to find Bella, suddenly realizing that this moment was what Lucy had warned him about. He saw the van fishtailing out on the ice, going into a spin, saw the panic on Bella's face. She was going to die, that van was going to crush her between it and the old truck.

Knowing that Lucy had foreseen this, Edward used his speed to move himself between her and the van, taking the impact himself. The vans metal door caved against his palm and he cradled Bella in the other arm. She stared at him dazed and shocked as she realized what he'd just done. He looked into her face for a second before setting her down and jumping away before any of the humans reached them.

He sprinted out of the lot as fast as possible, heading for the hospital. He needed to talk to Carlisle.

He had to take a round about route to the hospital to avoid being seen, Rosalie had gotten there faster in her car and was arguing with Carlisle in the hallway when he found them. Edward muttered a few indelicate words under his breath as he read his sisters thoughts. She was furious with him, for possibly exposing them all the humans. He knew she hated moving any sooner than need be and this event might just be the catalyst for another move.

"You have to talk to him Carlisle ….he can't just do this without consulting us. It's not fair!" She flipped her blond hair over one shoulder, her expression stern as he joined them.

"There wasn't time Rose."

"You shouldn't have done it Edward, it was too conspicuous."

"It was risky Edward, the girl is asking questions now."

"Lucy warned me about this. I couldn't just let the girl die."Edward explained.

Rosalie huffed. Edward could hear that Lucy didn't exactly make her comfortable either, so many unknowns…and his sister was not good with unknowns. It made her even more defensive and angry.

"All the same Edward, you should have told me….I…"Carlisle stopped as the three of them registered the aroma of a certain mortal nearby.

Edward turned to see the face of Bella peering around a corner. Carlisle steered Rosalie down the hallway and away. Edward sighed and walked over to Bella, knowing she probably had a million questions for him now.

"Can I talk to you?" She began, and Edward frowned as her delicious aroma enveloped him, he jammed his hands in his pockets.

She peppered him with questions about the accident and how he'd gotten to her so quickly. Her smell was overpowering and he couldn't focus. He mumbled some nasty comment about her hitting her head and being delusional. He couldn't help the negativity that washed over him as he spoke to her, and he felt bad. She'd done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment, but he was uncomfortable and wanted to get out of there quickly. He also wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to go gabbing about her suspicions to anyone.

She assured him that she wasn't planning on talking, but just was curious.

"Well…you better get used to disappointment." He muttered and quickly left the hallway.

As soon as he stepped outside he sucked in a deep breath of the fresh air, and blew it out, trying to wash the smell of her blood out of his lungs. He felt bad for hurting her feelings….but then again he needed to keep her quiet as well. Why had Lucy wanted him to save her?

He began to run again, this time heading for home. As he neared the property he felt a pulling sensation at the edge of his consciousness. He slowed his pace just before he came to the clearing out back of their home. A scent wafted towards him on the breeze…violets…and rain… he stopped short, closed his eyes. The scent grew stronger, and he felt a rush of hope. Alice hadn't warned him of her being back and he wondered if he'd only imagined it.

_Open your eyes Edward_. Her thoughts were loud and clear in his mind, and he opened his eyes to find her there a few feet in front of him, a tentative smile playing about her mouth.

"You came back." He breathed, drinking in the sight of her like a parched man seeing a stream.

She nodded. Her thoughts seemed so much more sure now.

"I did what you asked of me." He rambled, stepping closer.

"Good, is she all right? Bella?"

"She'll be fine." He didn't want to talk about Bella. He was just happy to see Lucy again, and he smiled as he reached out to touch a stray ebony curl.

"I've been waiting for you."

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	11. Closer

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LUCY

I got through the chapter on controlling how and when to slip. After a moment or two I grabbed a highlighter from my desk and began to accent certain passages that seemed important.

"In theory, you have found this book because you have slipped before, possibly more than once. We have designed this volume to be drawn to the frequency that those who slip will be on. Through our research we have noticed that those of us who can move between dimensions all have a certain frequency that is different from the masses."

So it was something about me? I had been born this way? I tried to wrap my mind around it, and kept reading.

"Now, if you have slipped into a reality to which you'd like to return, we will show you how to focus your energies and return there." I read on as it instructed how to make sure you were somewhere safe and comfortable, to focus your mind and energy on a certain aspect of the 'other place'. Another passage caught my eye and I grabbed the highlighter again.

"The next time you venture to another realm, it will be very helpful for you to 'anchor' yourself to a person or thing there. This will help you focus and make your journeys easier and faster as time progresses."

My mind instantly flew to Edward, he already was my anchor, before I'd known. As I thought of him and pictured his face in my mind I felt that pulling sensation, it alarmed me for a second but then I closed my eyes and went with it, focusing all of my energy on that feeling. It was like being pulled through a thick wall of pillows….my vision swam and I felt a thick soft pressure. It made me dizzy for a moment, but I kept my mind on Edward and tried to stay calm. I stayed very still and waited for the feeling to ebb.

A cold breeze shocked me and I opened my eyes. The bright green of the Washington forest surrounded me and the smells of earth and pine filled my nose.

"I'm back!" I whispered. "It worked." The strangeness of what I'd just done freaked me out but I was so happy to be back in Forks that I pushed it away and looked around. In the distance through the trees I could see what looked like the back of the Cullen's home. I wondered if anyone was home, it seemed be late afternoon, they wouldn't be in school this late would they? I knew Esme would let me in, and I couldn't wait to tell Carlisle about the book I'd found, and the changes in their story in my world.

Just as I was about to run towards it, something tugged at me to turn around. I did so and my heart jumped to see Edward standing a few feet away, his eyes closed. He looked almost…frightened? No…worried maybe? I moved closer until I was right in front of him. He stood still as a statue, looking painfully lovely. I recognized the gray peacoat and slacks, my thoughts were just about to stray towards the accident that must have happened, but I quickly squelched it. Instead I directed a thought toward him, knowing he could hear me.

_Open your eyes Edward._

He did so, and I was comforted by the buttery color of his eyes. I saw the tension drain from him. He seemed almost relieved to see me and the warmth in my chest intensified.

"You came back." He breathed, the sound soothing to my ears.

I could do nothing but nod in agreement.

"I did what you asked of me." He stepped closer, smiling a little now revealing those perfectly formed white teeth.

His words brought my thoughts back to Twilight. I asked about Bella.

He frowned a little, and moved closer to me. My body hummed with pleasure at his nearness. He was so unbelievably beautiful as he assured me that Bella was all right. Then he did something that surprised me, but made my heart soar, he reached out and captured one of my curls in his fingers, rubbing it between.

"I've been waiting for you."

Bella Swan was instantly wiped from my mind, and nothing remained but pleasure at his words. I could only hope that he meant them. I leaned my head so that his fingers brushed my cheek. His skin was cool, but smooth and soft at the same time and I found myself drowning.

His mouth curved into a humble smile as he moved a step closer to me. "Your thoughts are so different from anyone elses." He murmured, looking directly into my eyes.

"As in crazy?" I wrinkled my nose.

He laughed then, the sound reverberating through my soul. "No, just different." He said warmly, and I knew he'd heard all of that desire swimming in my brain.

"I learned some thing while I was gone." I changed the subject and began to walk toward the house. He sighed and fell into a slow step beside me.

"Such as?"

"Apparently my being here is real….and it's a lot more than dreams like I originally thought. Carlisle was right…I'm one of those Shifters." I tried to explain, rambling on about the strange book I'd found and what I'd learned thus far.

He listened closely, no doubt picking up more details from my brain than from my words. "So…if you've figured out how to control it more…that means you could come back and stay for however long you wanted?"

"Essentially yes, although I'd be leaving myself from my world asleep wherever I left it. I need to finish that book to see more details. The only thing I'm concerned about was that it mentioned about Shifting to realms that affect your home-one, and that's what I've done by coming here to visit you and your family."

He nodded.

"I need to make sure I don't do anymore damage Edward, until I understand how to fix it or what it all means." I said this part slowly, sensing that he was not going to like what I was about to tell him.

He stopped in our walk then, his eyes serious as he watched me. "As in, the book, my story…you want me to live it….but how…"

His expression looked so distraught that I moved quickly toward him and put my hands on his face, forcing him to look in my eyes.

"Don't take my thoughts too seriously Edward, I'm still very mixed up and confused about all of this. I don't want you to pick up on a wonder or a fear and take it to heart okay?" I said this slowly and clearly as his butterscotch eyes lightened a little in understanding.

"I may ask you to repeat the actions I read, just until we figure this out. But I can't tell you how to feel or what to think, only what I read…and the books I read were all written from Bella's perspective, so she had no way of knowing what was going on inside your head. I've already done damage to my world by being here, I erased the fourth book in the series, it simply disappeared from existence and no one but me has noticed. We have to be careful." I dropped my hands, hoping that he understood my meaning.

"Alice said she saw pages being erased…" he muttered.

"Exactly."

"We should tell Carlisle, he'll want to know."

I nodded, turning from him to start walking again toward the house. My thoughts rebelled against the delicate control I'd had on them and strayed back to the moment he'd touched my hair, desire swamped me so fast and hard I had to fight it back. I wanted to kiss him, hell I wanted to jump into his arms and hold onto him forever, promise that I would love him the way he'd been dreaming of for his hundred years of immortal life. I wanted to embrace away all of his tortured thoughts about being a monster and soulless and most of all, I wanted to tell him that he was not lost or damned as I knew he believed.

Quickly I tried to think of anything else, the multiplication table, periodic table of elements, anything.

But I was too late.

Edward had stepped up behind me and trapped me in the circle of his arms. I froze.

"I don't understand you Lucy." He whispered against my ear, his sweet breath making me dizzy.

"What…..I don't …." I fumbled, but his nearness made it hard to think coherently let alone speak.

"Humans usually have such an aversion to my kind, their instincts steer them away from getting too close, or even associating with us in public."

I looked down to see his long fingers splayed open against my stomach, the coolness of his touch oozing right through the thin cotton tee I wore. I caught my lip between my teeth and bit down, trying to keep myself from getting in too deep. In that moment there was no Twilight, there was no Bella, there was only Edward there with me.

"Well, I'm not exactly what you would call normal myself as it turns out." I tried to make a witty remark to distract us both.

"You think of me in ways I …" his breath caught "in ways I never thought someone …" his voice faltered out like he was at a loss for words.

Feeling brave, and slightly drunk from his nearness, I moved my hands over his as he held onto me, sliding my palms over the back of his hands and entwining our fingers.

"Edward….I…I'm sorry."

He groaned and leaned his head against my hair. "Oh God…don't apologize Lucy…please…"

I loved hearing him say my name, especially in that throaty whisper. I wanted to lose myself in his touch, but I knew that getting this deep in was dangerous, I would never want to go home. As much as I wanted to throw him down on the forest floor, I needed to focus. I let go of his hands and turned in his arms to look into his beautiful face, now twisted with emotions I couldn't even dare to name.

"Edward, I wish I could explain…." I wanted to try and rationalize the spell he had over me, but truthfully I'd fallen for him on the page, and doubly hard when I'd met him here in person. This Edward was different than the one I'd loved in the books, he was edgier, more outspoken, and more physical….and I liked it.

He moved a hand up under my chin, tilting my face upward.

"We should go…find Carlisle." I stammered.

"First….let me…." He murmured, breathing right against my mouth._ I was going to die._

"Edward, we can't…" but he cut me off, closing the gap between our faces in a slow second, his lips gingerly touching mine. All speech, all thought…everything stopped the moment our lips met. He was so careful at first, but the electric shock that zapped my nerves was like lightning, burning its way through my body in a fierce white heat. It took every bit of my strength not to attack him. Sensing my surrender his mouth pressed harder, pouring more of himself into the kiss, letting me taste the sweet spiciness of him. I was melting completely, my mind nothing but a swimming pool of desire and satisfaction. As the kiss ended, he leaned his forehead against mine.

"We've got to be…careful." I was still catching my breath from that kiss. "I can't change too much, not yet."

He let me go then. "Forgive me, I just had to see if what I'd heard in your mind was really what you wanted…was really how it could be. I never thought that anyone could really feel that way about me." He whispered brokenly. "I barely know you, and you've managed to burn through all the truths I held about my life, in a matter of days."

"The feeling is mutual." I murmured, cataloging everything about this moment for my memory.

He turned toward the house and began to walk, keeping pace with me. After a few strides I felt him gently grasp my hand. Neither of us said anything as we walked through the clearing toward his home, but when I looked I saw that he was smiling.


	12. Soul's cry

EDWARD

Lucy rambled on about what she had learned from some book in her world, this time not information about him, but about what she was and how it was teaching her to control how she came and went between his world and her own. She seemed nervous and he tried to pick up on her thoughts, but she masked him with thoughts about Shifting and her information. He did pick up on a memory that came to her: of searching all over her living space for a book she believed existed but had suddenly vanished. He could see the image in her mind, and it matched the one that Alice had seen in a vision, with its pages being erased. It didn't take a big leap for Edward to realize that Lucy's shifting had changed his story considerably. When she'd first come she'd admitted that in her world his book had been about his romance with Bella Swan, but that had to be changing now that he was very quickly falling for someone else, Lucy.

He tuned back into Lucy's thoughts and heard the disturbing notion that she thought that she was going to have to force him to live out the story, even though it was no longer the natural progression of events. His anguish must have shown as he fumbled for words, for she very abruptly grabbed his face and forced him to stare into her eyes.

He'd been thrown then, gazing into the deep green of her eyes and being mesmerized by the twinkles of gold that danced in her irises. She tried to reassure him that she herself wasn't sure of everything, but he was still lost to the feelings that were bubbling up inside him being this close to her.

Every rational thought in his mind rebelled against the attraction he felt toward her. Her violet rain aroma twined around him tightly like cables pulling him deeper in, and the warmth of her skin was heavenly against his cheeks. His despair was all but forgotten until she stepped away again. How could she have this power over him? Did Shifters have gifts like vampires? Perhaps Lucy's gift was this attraction that she had afflicted him with? Should he be so trusting?

But he recalled then how he'd heard of Alice and Jasper meeting each other, and even Carlisle and Esme…the feelings were extremely similar and Edward began to wonder. Could he have found his forever mate in a Shifter?

He smirked to himself, it would be just like him to be destined to have the most unlikely mate possible

She mumbled something about talking to Carlisle and turned to walk toward his house then. Presented with her back Edward felt a feeling of loss as she moved further away from him, taking that heavenly aroma and warmth with her. He quickened his slow step to keep pace with her, moving up until he was one pace behind her, watching as those black curls swayed with her motion.

He was suddenly slammed with a different direction that her thoughts had taken, and even though he knew he ought to respect her privacy, the heat that blew through him was too intoxicating to ignore. Desire, swift and fierce flooded her mind and he heard her voice in his head uttering words that made him feel weak.

"_I want to jump into his arms and hold onto him forever, promise that I would love him the way he'd been dreaming of for his hundred years of immortal life. I want to embrace away all of his tortured thoughts about being a monster and soulless and most of all, I want to tell him that he is not lost or damned as I know he believes."_

It broke him. He had to touch her again. Edward stepped right up behind her and wrapped his arms around the small mortal. Her scent enveloped him again in a thick welcoming embrace and he leaned down to her ear to murmur his confusion. He felt her tremble in his arms and it made it all the harder to resist.

"I'm sorry…." She stammered, and a swift shot of pain coursed through him. But he read her thoughts and found that she was only apologetic for his confusion, not her feelings.

Her hair was soft against his face as he leaned against her, telling her that apologies were not what he was looking for. Her warmth didn't burn him like most mortals touch felt, no her warmth seeped through her clothes and was melting him like ice from the outside in. Her desire warmed his soul as much her touch warmed his skin. She didn't flinch or pull away either and Edward felt something shifting deep down inside, changing and molding itself to Lucy, to her presence. This is what Jasper had recalled feeling when he met Alice, and why Carlisle couldn't restrain himself from saving Esme.

"should…go…Carlisle…" she babbled as she moved in his arms so he was presented with her face in close proximity. He memorized the smallness of her nose, the fullness of her mouth, even the insecurity showing in the little wrinkle of her forehead. Her desire blazed from her thoughts now, hot and demanding, but whispers of insecurity and panic were also wandering around in her mind. He wanted to respect her privacy but that image that she kept coming back to, wanting to kiss him…he couldn't shake it, and in that second he didn't care about being rational, about Shifters or realities, or changes be damned, he needed to find out.

In a deliberate move he leaned in to cut off her words with his lips. He felt the shock ripple through her mind at his intimate touch, but then her thoughts flooded with pleasure and completeness. Joy bubbled up in him alongside his own long repressed desire, a hundred years of longing rushed to the surface as he deepened the kiss, letting the heat of her mouth melt him even further. Her feelings echoed his own and he knew. No matter what Lucy claimed about his story in her world, it was now different. He'd found his mate, and it certainly wasn't Isabella Swan.

He allowed her to bring them both back the present and despite the fact that he was shaken to the core by what they'd just experienced together he knew that they needed to address the paradoxes of the whole situation as well. But as she led him back toward the house, he quickly moved up beside her to grasp her hand, wanting some physical contact back. As he touched her, another piece of his soul settled into its rightful place and he sighed, letting the smile that bubbled up show on his face.

)))))))))))))))))))))))))

An hour or so later Edward lounged on the sofa, watching contentedly as Carlisle finally finished giving Lucy the third degree on her information and what she had learned as well as the consequences in her world. He typed as fast as she spoke, on a laptop, no doubt cataloging all the information to research more in depth later on.

He scanned the thoughts of his siblings to keep his mind occupied, and away from the unpleasant thought of what Lucy had mentioned before, about him needing to "keep up the appearance" of the original story in which she'd encountered him. Rosalie was on the defensive as usual, perceiving Lucy and her unpredictability a threat to their safety, Emmett was interested on a playful level and Edward smiled to himself as he heard his brothers pride at having been the first one to 'discover the new little oddball'.

Jasper was standing in a nearby doorway, weighing all the info. Edward was surprised to find that this brother was oddly fond of Lucy, although not in the original way that his jealousy had assumed. Jasper seemed to think of Lucy protectively, much like an older brother, weighing her vulnerability heavily. Alice and Esme were already smitten with Lucy as a new addition to their little clan, Alice already planning a makeover and Esme was simply glad that Lucy seemed to make her son happy for a change.

Edward tried to keep his thoughts away from the notion that Lucy might Shift back to her world at any time, as she'd managed to stay a longer length of time already during this visit. His insides clenched at the thought of her leaving, of not knowing when he'd see her again, it made him feel ill.

"You all right?" Jasper was staring at him now, an eyebrow quirked upward. No doubt he'd picked up on some of the roiling emotions that tumbled through his mind.

"Fine."

"Interesting, this is all very interesting..." Carlisle murmured, finally pausing from his assault of the laptop to look at Lucy again.

Edward watched as she smiled, she seemed much more at east among his family than when she'd first visited. Her thoughts then had been filled with awe and disbelief, whereas now all that emanated from her was joy at their company, along with trying to digest some of what she and Carlisle were discussing about dimensional rifts and such. Edward tuned back into the audible conversation.

"It was the Volturri's belief that Shifters possessed some inner gift, like Alice, Edward and Jasper do. But a Shifter's inner gift was to be able to change the 'frequency' that they existed on. Much like one tunes a radio dial, Shifters could tune themselves into different frequencies, and thus move themselves from one dimensional reality to another. Although, this is all theory of course as they never got a hold of a Shifter long enough to really study the mechanics of it." Carlisle explained.

Edward bristled as he heard a thought that his father had left unspoken, about the horrific possibility that they would discover Lucy. Edward recalled the tales Carlisle had told about Aro and his clan, how Aro was himself a collector of immortals with rare gifts. And though Lucy was technically a mortal, her ability was rarer than any Aro himself possessed or had encountered, she would be a most coveted prize.

"Edward?" Esme called attention to the fact that he had unknowingly emitted a low growl. He tried to banish the unpleasant thoughts from his mind and rearranged his expression to be blank as he gazed out at the members of his family.

"Nothing." He said quickly, although he avoided the eyes of Jasper, who was the most likely to understand where his paranoid thoughts had gone.

There was a moment of silence in the room as they all pondered the plethora of information that had exchanged between Lucy and Carlisle. One inner voice in particular drew Edward's attention and concern, and he was somewhat thankful when she spoke aloud so that he was not the only one hearing it.

"One thing I am concerned about though, Carlisle, is changing your world too much until I understand what the consequences would be in mine. I've already done damage to the books as they were before I came, the fourth one is now nonexistent. Somehow I retained the knowledge of what happened in it, but now there is no evidence of it at all in my world, either book or film in production." Lucy mused.

"That is a quandary…. You did say that all the books in which we appeared were written from the Swan girl's perspective?"

Lucy nodded.

Edward suddenly felt a knot begin to brew in the pit of his stomach.

"So the books themselves had no knowledge of what happened between us when she was not present?"

"No, only what Edward would have told her after the fact."

Carlisle rubbed his temple, lost in thought for a moment. "And you say that the author claimed to have seen a vignette from the story in a dream, that is what inspired her to write the books?"

"Yes, I saw an interview in which she said that she dreamed a scene from the first book and was so intrigued that she made up a story to explain it."

"Do you know which scene she was referring to?"

Lucy nodded, and Edward felt the knot in his stomach tighten and turn as he saw in the mind an image of himself and the Swan girl in a meadow. He shifted a little in discomfort and then tuned in on Carlisle's thoughts instead.

_It may be the only way Son,….._

"No!" Edward suddenly burst out, surprising them all except Carlisle who had known he would be listening.

"Son, it may be the only way to prevent damage from becoming too widespread in her world."

"Can someone explain please?" Rosalie demanded.

"Edward is angry because the only solution it seems is to make sure that he follows the behavior that is outlined in the books that Lucy has read. Otherwise we risk further erasings in her reality." Carlisle explained.

Edward turned his eyes on Lucy, but she was looking at the floor, chewing her bottom lip anxiously, her hands holding tightly to the edge of the sofa cushion. He could feel her guilt and confusion.

"Who cares about some book in some other world?" Emmett asked.

"For one thing, if the books never got written it may cause a paradox. Perhaps Lucy couldn't have visited a world she'd never heard of? But yet she already has…it could cause erosion of both realms." Carlisle's brow furrowed in concentration.

"But since the author in Lucy's world claimed to have only "seen" one particular event in a dream…perhaps that is all she needed to see to create the story she told, thus the remaining books would stay intact in Lucy's world."

"So I have to act out what she read then? Even though it would be insincere?" Edward felt his inner knot pull even tighter, making him slightly nauseous.  
"Isabella would have no way of knowing whether you meant your words or actions, Edward." Carlisle said softly.

Lucy looked up then, somewhat confused at Carlisle's comment. He regarded her gently with a compassionate expression. "We can be the very best thespians when the need arises."

Edward felt anger and pain roiling inside him as he tried to imagine feigning romantic feelings for the Swan girl. He tried to picture himself courting her, declaring himself, saying things that were only meant for his one true mate to another. It tore at his insides and fueled his angry fire.

He felt Jasper's wave of calm put a damper on his temper, even before his brother moved to lay a hand on his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder as the hot fire quickly dampened into a mere smolder. Jasper gave him a knowing stare.

"It will help you to think more rationally."

He nodded, both thankful and slightly irritated at his brother's quick salve.

Lucy suddenly looked uncomfortable, as if she was in some kind of pain. His own hurt forgotten he moved to her side. He was alarmed to see her lovely face contort slightly and she moved her hands up to press against her temples.

"Carlisle…" Edward's voice dropped to a plea as he perched on the sofa beside her.

"What hurts Lucy?" Carlisle inquired, suddenly standing much closer.

"My head….feels like it's being ….pulled….." She pressed her hands harder against the side of her face and dropped her head down, her hair hiding her expression. But Edward could feel her pain, she was confused and fuzzy…and sad. Unable to help himself he reached for her, placing his own hand atop one of her own.

"She's going…." Alice said quietly, now standing in the little huddle they'd made around Lucy. Edward read his sisters' thoughts and saw that Lucy was indeed about to leave them again. A thick ache took up residence in his chest.

"No! Lucy….don't…" he breathed, leaning in closer. But the fuzziness and pain intensified in Lucy's thoughts and he knew she was losing her battle in fighting the Shift.

"Son, you have to let her go…" Esme crooned, wanting to comfort him.

Suddenly Lucy's head snapped up and she looked directly into his eyes. He could feel the pain in her thoughts, and the sadness at having to go. He felt her fighting it, but he knew she was going to have to give in. His insides twisted into a sickening knot as he stared into her face, still touching her cheek. Her forehead furrowed with the effort and a sheen of sweat began to glisten across her face.

"Edward….I'm sorry…I have to…" She fumbled.

"I know." The words pained him.

"Please….you have to try…Bella….the meadow….try…be nice to her...she'll believe you..."

His anguish must have showed on his face then because she reached out to grab his free hand, squeezing tightly. "I want to come back… but you have to try…or I might….not be able to…" Her breath hitched as the pulling pain in her mind intensified.

It was killing him, he knew he needed to let her go, but the thought of losing her, possibly forever hurt too much.

"I'll try, Lucy. Just come back!" He whispered, pulling her into his arms, no longer caring about the fact that his family encircled them. He gripped her as tightly as he dared without hurting her, and inhaled that perfect scent of hers as deep as he could, closing his eyes tightly.

His arms were suddenly empty, as if she'd never been. Edward felt his entire being quake with the force of the loss. He barely noticed as his family closed around him. They murmured words of comfort but he couldn't hear them…. His soul was screaming.


	13. Acting

CULLEN WORLD

Carlisle looked up as Esme entered their bedroom. He'd been reading over the notes he'd taken while conversing with Lucy and trying to make sense of the information. Most interesting to him was her mention of the fact that Carlisle Castle existed in her world, since he'd had a hand in it's creation here in their world. The connection opened up a new realm of possibilities about Lucy and the Shifting.

But his thoughts were immediately sidetracked by the frown on his beloved's face.

"We can't make him do this Carlisle." She said softly, alighting on the edge of their bed.

"I know my dear, but it is the only way to protect Lucy's world and our own from further damage. He must try." Carlisle stood from his chair, moving to sit beside his wife.

Her lovely face seemed on the verge of tears. "But it's hurting him," she could not stand to see one of her children hurting so.

Carlisle gathered her into his arms. "I know, dear heart. But if too much damage is done, think of the consequences."

"What would happen?"

"I'm not positive, but on theory…if Edward does not renact the scene in which the author had her inspiration…she might never write any of the books that Lucy read. And perhaps if she'd never known of us, she could not have shifted here…or no longer could return. I know you fear for Edward's pain, but think of the pain he would deal with if Lucy could never return to him?"

Esme leaned back to stare at him with horrified eyes, the pain of losing one's mate, to a vampire, was immeasurable and eternal. "It would kill him."

Carlisle nodded sullenly. "That is why we must convince him do as Lucy described."

Esme nodded. " What can we do to help him?"

"Support him as best we can, be nice to Isabella if he brings her here and convince the children to do the same."

Carlisle held his wife close, stroking her hair, as he tried to think of how these events could play out. He had seen plainly that Edward had found his mate in Lucy, and that her feelings were the same, but he had never heard tell of a Shifter successfully staying in another realm over their own. And he hated to think of what the cost to his son might be if they could not find a solution.

;

;

EDWARD POV

Edward gritted his teeth through the entire bus ride out to the greenhouses. Their enthusiastic teacher prattled on through the tour about composts and plants, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He wondered about Lucy, her reality, what she was doing…. Did she remember him when she was there? Did she think about him? Would she be able to come back? It consumed his thoughts, and he was once again glad that his gift was not shared by his siblings as the obsessive nature of his inner monologue would probably bore them to tears.

He hung back and kept an eye on the Swan girl, slightly resenting her for what he was going to have to do. He felt some guilt about that as well, for she seemed like a nice girl, for a mortal, harmless really. Her only fault was the smell that she emitted, that it was far too tempting for a vampire.

He was intending to avoid her for the entire trip, but he remembered Lucy's words about being nice to her and 'trying'. Carlisle had been at him about it as well. He moved up to walk behind her, and listened Mike's thoughts about her, how she'd turned him down about prom because she was leaving town. He was curious, maybe if she was gone then his dilemma would leave with her.

"What's in Jacksonville?" He mumbled, once close to her.

She turned to stare at him as they walked, looking both astonished and slightly irritated at his bluntness.

She gave him a flippant answer and looked away.

"You didn't answer my question."

"You don't answer any of mine." She griped.

"Look I'm sorry I'm being rude all the time…" he did feel guilty about that. "I just think it's the best way."

"Floridians….that's what's in Jacksonville." She turned away again after that remark, and promptly tripped over a hose, knocking into the table nearby. He caught her arm, now irritated that her clumsiness forced him into close proximity to her smell.

"Could you at least….watch where you walk?"

He moved away from her then, needing to get out of the green house and away from the smell, and her presence. He battled the guilt that rose up at his insensitive attitude, but he felt so conflicted inside. Being close to Bella was nearly painful as he was fighting his inner instincts through every long second, not too mention that the idea of having to fake an emotion for her went against his inner desires. Carlisle had explained to him about the paradoxes that could occur if he couldn't see this through to the event in question. But it still gnawed at him.

He walked out to the buses hoping for a chance to collect his thoughts and cleanse his lungs. But that familiar burning aroma suddenly was upon him again as the students milled out of the greenhouse behind him and he found Isabella suddenly beside him again. He gave her a sideways glance and sighed.

"Look Bella, we shouldn't be friends."

Her face fell just a little and Edward inwardly kicked himself.

She was talking, but he wasn't really listening until she said something about her accident, how maybe he shouldn't have saved her. Now he really felt like a monster. Bella was human, she didn't deserve to feel like she'd be better off dead.

"You think I regret saving you?"

"I can see that you do…I just don't know why." She looked down at her sneakers, her long hair hiding her expression.

"No…you don't know anything about it." He said, his voice sounding harder than he intended as he had to fight against breathing in too deeply with her this close.

His siblings thoughts were suddenly close as Alice and Jasper moved up beside them. "Hi Bella, are you riding with us?" Alice asked politely, giving Edward a knowing glance that she was following Carlisle's orders about being kind.

Edward didn't know if he could handle a whole ride cooped up with her scent and he knew that Jasper would be even more uncomfortable. "No, our bus is full." He said pointedly and quickly got on to avoid an argument.

Alice and Jasper followed, grabbing the seat beside him in the back.

"That was rude." Alice chastised as they took their seats.

"He did it for me." Jasper nodded at him, silencing his mate. "There's enough smell for me to contend with, let alone adding the Swan girl." He said under his breath, just loud enough for Alice and Edward to hear, but no one else.

Alice shrugged, but gave them both a look that clearly stated she knew exactly what was going on, whether they wanted to tell her or not. Both were used to it, Alice always seemed to know.

Edward leaned his head against the window and stared at the patterns that the raindrops made on the glass. He thought about Lucy, it had been two days since she'd left and he still ached from the loss, perhaps worse now than before. He didn't want to think about the horrific possibility that she might never return, although Carlisle had explained to him that if he didn't play nice with Bella that Lucy's shifting might end permanently.

He thought about the night after Lucy had left this last time, remembering how he had practically begged Carlisle to help him come up with a solution. His father had promised to do everything in his power to help, but he'd read his thoughts and Edward had winced as Carlisle had thought about the fact that Shifting was still very rare and information on it was extremely hard to come by.

He traced the path of a raindrop with his finger as it zigzagged down, and allowed himself a small sigh. He had promised Lucy that he would try with Bella, for her sake. He hadn't promised to feel anything, but he would at least try and keep the accident prone girl alive. He'd heard her friends thinking about how they were going to go buy dresses in Port Angeles, maybe he would drive down and tail them, just to make sure Bella didn't get killed crossing the street or something. He'd seen just how dangerous she could make simply walking be

;

;

LUCY POV

I felt a wave of relief as the pounding pressure in my mind suddenly ceased, but as I opened my eyes the shock of being back in my world, in my room was drastic. Only seconds before I'd been in their home, sitting there surrounded by them, Edward at my side….looking so distraught…

"Oh no…"I murmured, feeling my eyes immediately start to prick and burn with tears. I looked to my side and saw the book still lying open on the bed and realized that however long I'd been gone…my body had stayed there, not moving. And indeed as I sat up my limbs felt slightly stiff. The clock on the nightstand read 9:00pm, I'd been lying there apparently for about five hours. My time with the Cullen's had seemed only an hour or so, apparently there was a time lapse between the two realities, time seemed to flow much faster in this world than it did in theirs.

I stood and stretched, trying to think of anything to distract myself from the painful memory of having to leave Edward behind. I tried to think that I would be able to go back, I chanted it in my mind that I would be back with them as soon as I could, and I silently prayed that Edward would listen to Carlisle and I about being nice to Bella. I hoped that Carlisle's theories were correct about keeping the balance between the two worlds. I remembered that my book had said something about that and I carried it with me into my kitchen.

My stomach growled and reminded me that while I'd been off with the Cullens, this body had missed a feeding. I quickly threw together something and sat at table, thumbing through more of the book about Shifting as I ate. Certain passages jumped out at me:

_"If you are affecting your home realm when you shift to a 'fictional' place, you must do all that you can to avoid changing the original story that you have shifted into. If you have access to the creator of the original story/script/place then try to get information on the "moment of creation". If you can discover this, you may be able to repair the damage to your homeworld. The "moment of creation" is the time that the author created the realm, whether through a vision or idea. If you can manage to create the "moment" as the author saw it…there will be one of two outcomes:"_

I was intensely interested and kept reading as fast as I could.

_"Outcome one: the damage will be repaired in your homeworld and the timeline in the 'fictional' realm will continue on unaltered. In this case, the shifter would cease to move within in the 'fictional realm'._

_Outcome two: there will be a 'splitting' of the fictional realm, in which that reality will split into a duplicate realm where the author's storyline will recommence within one and different events may transpire in the other. This outcome will create a two parallel realities where the same individuals and places will be present, but one will follow the author's vision while the other is free to develop it's own identity and move as it sees fit._

_In this outcome, the shifter MUST have anchored themselves to an integral character or place within the reality, BEFORE the split occurs. The split will occur once the "moment of creation" has been recreated. If anchoring is successful and a split occurs, the shifter will then only be tied to the now-free timeline. "_

I sat up and rubbed a hand across my forehead, trying to make sense of what I'd read. I wished that I could take the book with me to Forks the next time I managed to shift (if I was able to). I had a feeling that Carlisle would love to try and digest all this information. But if I had read it correctly and understood, it was saying that I had to get Edward and Bella to renact the meadow scene. If I could do that, then I could repair the damage I'd done, and then the Cullens I'd met (Edward included) would be free of their story and my shifting would be thus tied to them, versus the Cullens that would split and relive the actual Twilight Storyline.

When I thought of Edward, my chest tightened. The idea of having to make him act out that scene of falling in love with Bella made my stomach knot up uncomfortably. But if I could just live through that….then perhaps the Edward I met would be free of the story and …maybe….

"No….it's not possible…" I whispered to myself, even though I wasn't sure of anything anymore. But I hoped that if I was able to succeed in this 'reality split' then maybe not only could I heal the damage I'd done to my world, but I could also have a chance at being with Edward.


	14. And so the lion

LUCY

Over the next few days I poured over that book, trying to absorb every detail. I learned that it was possible to train my 'ability' like you would train a muscle, that explained why each time I visited Forks I seemed able to stay longer and fight the return more. I also learned more about this concept of 'splitting' a fictional realm so that its inhabitants would in a sense be 'freed' from their storyline and be able to move about of their own free will.

The more I read, the more I thought about the possibility that it could afford me. I'd never been one to plan about the future, my mother and stepfather had always been on me about that. Wondering why I didn't go back to school, why I didn't have sights for a career, marriage, children, all the things I should want. But I could never visualize my future self like some people can. I had never a clear vision of what I wanted to do or be. I liked the idea of traveling, of photographing people and places. But nothing other than that came clear.

All I knew was that I wanted out. Out of my monotonous daily life of being alone and working a dead end job. I wanted away from this same city I'd grown up in, I just wanted out. And the more I considered the possibility of being able to join the cullens in their realm, the more I wanted it. The idea that just maybe I would get to be with Edward and his family, spend time with them,…maybe more. When I thought of being there, it struck me that I had felt 'at home' there with them…._with him_.

I went about my job and life, secretly plotting and thinking, reading and digesting all this new information. Crazy thoughts that I would have laughed at before now seemed so plausible to me. Shifting between a fictional reality, the fact that I was special in this way, that I had the power to change something, possibly something as massive as a dimension. I began to feel less loss, like my path was now being revealed to me. It took a couple days to plan my course of action.

I planned my next shift more carefully, now that I was armed with the information I'd read. I knew that if I ate before shifting, then my physical needs would be less likely to interrupt my shift earlier than I intended. I knew that I would have more time. It would take more mental effort, but the book had promised that each shift would be easier. And the more I concentrated, the greater my strength would become.

That night I was nervous as I laid down in bed, the book on my nightstand. Part of my rational brain was still trying to debunk all this as fantasy. But as I closed my eyes in the dark and began to concentrate, I saw Edwards' face and my soul shifted and moved, restless and aching. I had missed him, all of the cullens really, but Edward most of all. I wanted to be with him so badly. As I concentrated on his image and willed myself into a shift, I felt that pressure again, like being pulled…though this time I felt as if I was pulling myself through the veil...

9009

Instantly I felt the change in atmosphere, from my warm bed to the chilly damp air, the familiar smell of the Washington forest….I knew I had done it. Quickly I opened my eyes, my heart skipping to see that foggy grove of trees. But as quickly as my excitement hit, I felt it drop into concern as I tried to discern where I'd arrived in the Twilight timeline. Was I in time? I had to make Edward follow through with the scene in the meadow. I had to try.

I looked down and saw that I was wearing my flannel pajamas and stifled a chuckle. I tried a technique that I'd read about, and concentrated my mind on an image of clothes I'd rather be wearing. When I opened my eyes, that was the outfit I had on, as if I'd always been in it even though I'd never moved. The success gave me a rise of adrenaline and confidence. I could do this….I_ could fix this._

"Where are we going?" A female voice cut through the foggy silence along with the sound of someone stomping through the trees, and dragging someone.

I ducked behind a large fallen tree just as the couple burst into the clearing. Edward, dressed in that gray peacoat…._oh no_….Bella….he had her by the elbow, his jaw set tightly. I tried to blank my thoughts, wondering if Edward had heard me, if he knew I was here now.

He halted for a moment, his eyes flicking around the forest,….searching…. then he grimaced and looked at Bella who watched him with an expression that hovered between adoration and fear.

"You need to see what I look like in the sunlight…." He growled and in a swift move swung her over his back before disappearing in blur. I moved out from my hiding spot and stared in the direction he'd gone, knowing that he'd be miles up the mountain in a matter of seconds and I'd never be able to catch up.

"We'll help you." A southern tipped male voice startled me as I jumped to find both Jasper and Alice behind me. Quickly the shock of seeing them suddenly was replaced by a wave of joy as Alice stepped forward to hug me and spin me around. It was odd to feel how strong she was for her tiny stature, she moved me as if I weighed nothing. But I laughed, loving how good it felt to be here with them again. Overcome for the moment I accepted a hug from Jasper as well, squeezing tightly simply because I could.

"You've gotten stronger." Jasper murmured as I let go. I looked up to see him fighting a grin. "That was like getting hit by a wave, although I have to say your joy is much easier to take than the despair."

I was about to make a comment about what I'd learned, but Alice brought me back to the task at hand as her eyes closed and her brow furrowed. After a second she opened them.

"He told her, but he's fighting it Lucy." Alice spoke quickly. "We have to go now….he's not going to be able to finish it. The words won't come to him…."

I realized what she meant. Because of me…because of the changes I'd made accidentally to this realm, to him, to myself….he wouldn't have the feelings to say the things in the meadow. I wracked my brain for how to solve it, but I came up with nothing…except...

"I've seen the scene in the movie…read it in the book….I know the words…" I mumbled.

Jasper and Alice both simultaneously caught my idea and Jasper reached for my hand. "Ride with me….we'll take you to them."

"You'll have to stay hidden, but he will be able to get the words from your mind if you're close." Alice explained.

I nodded, clambering onto Jasper's back. As soon as he took off running I closed my eyes to the flying forest and brought up the meadow scene in my mind. I tried to recall every last detail, knowing that everything would depend on this moment. The scene itself had seemed beautiful but now in my minds eye I saw the pained look on Edwards face. Was that because he didn't want to say those things? Reality blurred with dreams as I forced myself to remember every word, every damn detail. I recalled the actresses face who played Bella, tried to replay the script in my mind. I tried to remember the scene from the novel as much as I could. In no time at all Jasper slowed to a walk and I hopped silently to the ground. The foggy mist was heavy here and Alice appeared at my side, one pale finger to her lips as she flicked her gaze in the direction of a collection of boulders and trees.

My ears pricked as I could hear Edward suddenly yelling.

"As if you could outrun me?" His voice echoed in the still air of the morning and sent shivers down my spine. He sounded furious. This scene took on a whole new air as I tried to only think of it as I'd watched it.

"As if you could fight me off!" A crash as he threw the roots he'd yanked up against the rock.

Alice suddenly grabbed my hand, her grip cold and just shy of painfully tight. She whispered into my ear. "You've got to feed him the words now Lucy…he's trying to chase her off…not keep her."

My heart constricted as I thought of him falling for Bella, but I pushed it away and reconjured the scene in my mind.

"Here goes nothing…" I muttered and closed my eyes tight, keeping my grip on Alice's cool white fingers. I concentrated hard and called out to Edward in my mind.

_Edward….. Edward I know you can hear me!_

In my minds eye I saw him, up in the branches of a nearby tree as he tried to evade Bella's touch. It was as if I was watching the scene in the movie behind my closed eyes, but suddenly that Edward stopped and look right at me in that vision. I knew he heard me.

_ Look at her! Use your voice…she'll believe you. She's a character Edward…she was written to fall for you. All you have to do is say the words. I know them….listen to me…._

I heard my voice pleading within my own heard. The focus it took had me nearly rigid with the effort. I felt a strong arm wrap around my shoulders and pull me in close, Jasper…trying to lend me courage and strength with his presence, just as Alice did likewise holding my hand, her fingers entwined with mine. I tried to draw on both of them for strength and suddenly it came to me.

_Lucy….I don't want to do this damnit._

I heard him! He hadn't spoken aloud and it had seemed as if time slowed down. I thought I remembered something about vampires feeling time differently if they stopped and focused on it. Was that what I was experiencing?

_I hear you! Oh God Edward…I can hear you!_

_What? Lucy…..where are you…?_

_Not yet….Edward listen to me, read my mind…the scene is there for you to repeat. Just do it. If this works…it will mend what I broke._

_And you'll leave_…. The heart break in his voice nearly brought me to my knees, my strength sagged as the despair of the idea of leaving him flooded me, his pain, his sorrow at the notion made me so weak I would have crumpled, had Jasper and Alice not had a ahold of me.

I heard him now though, reading the passage from my mind about Bella's scent being his own private heroin formula. I could see her follow him into the tree, crowding his space. His face stoic but with feigned interest, Bella couldn't see through that perfect mask.

_No Edward, if this works….I may never have to leave again._

_What? I thought…_

_There's no time Edward, if this is going to work, you have to keep her going…you have to play this scene out. This is what the author saw, this moment is what made her write the books…..please…just take the words…say them to her…._

I saw them now, between the two boulders….could hear Bella

"I'm only afraid of losing you."

Edwards face, his eyes downcast, looking almost as if he could cry. But he did as I asked, looked her in the face that stoic mask suddenly back in place. "You don't know how long I've waited for you."

_For you Lucy…not her…you._

_ I know. Edward I know._

I stiffened slightly as I watched him lay his hand over her heart and utter that iconic line about the line and lamb.

Then as I watched I felt something beginning to change...it was as if a gigantic ripping sound was vibrating through my being. My mind felt as if it was being pulled, almost as if I was waking, but much more violently. The power behind this coursed through me as if the greatest earthquake ever suddenly shook everything. I felt as if might pass out. Jasper tightened his grip on me and I wondered how they couldn't feel it. The sound seemed to get louder and louder, ripping …like pages…being ripped from a book….pulled out….

But then slowly it began to subside….and behind my eyes I saw ….what looked like a special effect in a movie scene, I saw Edward and Bella lying in the meadow looking at one another….but then I saw a second Edward, standing at the side of the clearing watching in rapt fascination and horror at himself and the girl. The two images seemed to blur until I could see nothing….and the last of my strength faded just as the earth stopped shaking.

The last thing I remember was Alice's frightened gasp as I blacked out.


	15. Home Redefined

EDWARD

That moment in the forest seemed to drag on for an eternity. It was painful, like being cut open over and over with a knife that wouldn't yield. Having to pretend to care for the human girl, even while his fangs ached to taste her blood made Edward even more miserable than he already was. Her scent enveloped him in a cloud of torment as she followed him through the trees. He tried to frighten her, not caring for Lucy's warnings. But she followed doggedly claiming to not fear, seeming genuinely determined to prove him wrong.

With every step she took close to him, his mouth burned with venom. Like a dance, he would move away and she would pursue, even when crouched in a nearby tree, she climbed up to get into his face with her questions. But then his angels' voice cut through his tormented mind.

_ Edward…. I know you can hear me._

Time seemed to slow down, Edward could hear the human girls heartbeat as she stood so close, her tempting blood pulsing through her veins. But the voice that made his chest tighten didn't speak aloud, her melodic tone sounded through his mind. He was glad that his gift was lost on the human girl as it left him unclouded to hear Lucy's plea.

He looked for her quickly, eyes scanning the grove far too fast for Bella to notice.. That whiff of her scent, of violets….it had brushed past him on the wind earlier like a caress but that was all. He cursed himself for not having investigated it then, he was doing what Lucy had insisted on…he was leading on the human, letting her get too close.

Even now as Bella followed me through the trees….my soul cried out for Lucy. Knowing she was so close but being unable to go to her burned like fire. I felt more alive than I had in days, but also more frustrated.

She caught his growling thoughts, from her hiding place and now he sensed his brother and sister's presence as well. They were with her, they'd helped her get here, so she could aid in this insanity. And as he realized their plan….he saw the scene in Lucy's thoughts…heard her begging me to simply repeat the words that the alter ego in her mind had spoken.

He grumbled in his mind again about his lack of desire for this… and then her voice in his head piped up, sounding shocked. She could hear _his thoughts_…she heard _HIM._ Her melodic voice soothed the ache ever so slightly and he wanted to go to her, but she was nowhere to be seen. He knew the three of them couldn't be far. But as she begged that she needed him to help her fix whatever rift she'd caused, he voiced his biggest fear. That if he did this…she'd leave again and never come back. He had been nursing that terror since she'd last vanished, and now it suddenly slammed to the forefront.

_If this works…I may never have to leave again…._

Hearing her voice utter this in his head steeled his reserve and he let the human girl get close again, slowing as they ended up between two large mountain rocks. He advanced on her, repeating the words he'd heard himself say in Lucy's vision….asked the girl to tell me what she was thinking. He gritted his teeth as he touched Bella, feeling fake and dishonest he allowed her to think that his attention was amorous. She didn't seem to catch the duality in that moment and drank up words greedily as he spoke those words that should have been meant for Lucy.

"You don't know how long I've waited for you."

He made sure that Lucy knew he didn't mean them for Bella. Despite the fact that the words he said now to the human weren't his own, they did sum up how he felt for Lucy. She was the one he was meant to wait for, who he was meant to be with, the one who was destined to find him.

_I know Edward…I know_. He could hear her in his head. Knowing that she was reading his thoughts just as he could hear hers was intoxicating. Never had his gift been mirrored back at him this way. And to know it was Lucy that was doing it….his body ached for her, he felt his limbs tremble as he lay beside Bella in the meadow.

Lucy's thoughts had gone silent, but a cloud of terror suddenly blanketed him, palpable like a wet sleeping bag. He could feel both Jasper and Alice as well…and tried to tune in on their thoughts even as he closed his eyes and let the human girl see his skin and the effect the sunlight had on it. It was odd to feel that disconnected from the physical present, his mind so preoccupied with somewhere/someone He couldn't get a lock on his siblings except their terror and concern and Lucy….something about her thoughts was unclear now, fuzzy….unfocused. Was she phasing out again? Had he been right?

Suddenly Edward felt some sort of force pulling on him, he kept his eyes closed and leaned into the feeling. It reminded me of what he had picked up from Lucy's mind when she'd shifted out, that time she'd been in his arms when it happened. But as he felt the pulling, it was like an earthquake suddenly began to shake the meadow. Edward tried to open his eyes but found that he couldn't and fear began to seep into his cold veins for the first time in decades. Vampires had little to be afraid of, but this strangeness, coupled with his concern for Lucy's welfare was maddening.

Then as suddenly as it had begun the shaking ceased and Edward found he could once again open his eyes. But what he saw rocked him to the core. Instead of lying in the grass with the human girl staring at him, he stood now on the edge of the meadow near the trees, though he had no memory of moving. He was fast, but not unconsciously. And what was even more worrisome was that he could see HIMSELF laying there as he stared. The two figures lay in the grass staring at one another, the sunlight twinkling on his skin like crystal, that telltale sign that he and none of his kin were human. It was like being in a dream, watching himself like that….more like a nightmare, but only he didn't dream, for dreaming required sleeping and that wasn't something he could do.

But as he stared in horror and fascination, the two figures blurred and suddenly winked out, as if they'd never been. It reminded him exactly of how it happened when Lucy herself phased in and out of his time. Just as if she'd never been, even the grass was undamaged, when it should have imprints from the two bodies. He ran to the center of the meadow to see for sure, but the two figures were gone, both himself and Bella had completely vanished.

_Edward!_

Alice's frightened cry rang out in his mind and Edward felt both her fear and Jasper's unease. He felt it even as he raced out of the meadow, he didn't have to go far as his siblings met him at the edge. He pulled up to an abrupt stop as he saw the limp figure in his brothers' arms. Lucy.

"What just happened? Is she? What is going on?" Edward demanded, his voice dropping an octave as he stared at the girl he loved, lying limp as a ragdoll in Jasper's grip.

"I'm not sure Edward…one minute it was clear and the next moment I couldn't see anyone's decisions. Not one, not even Jasper. It was like everything was blurred, was shaking… then just as it stopped I saw….." Alice's features were a mask of confusion and disbelief as she faltered for words.

"What did you see?" Edward asked, but his eyes never left Lucy's face.

"It was like before, the vision with layers but this time it was like the layers were being separated…like pulled out….I couldn't really tell. And just as it started to clear up…Lucy …she fainted." Alice gestured at the girl. Lucy was still breathing, and Edward relaxed slightly as he saw the slight rise and fall of her chest, but her eyes were closed and her body completely slack as if she was comatose.

"We should take her to Carlisle Edward…he might know something." Jasper said, cradling the girl against his chest protectively. Edward could hear his brothers' thoughts and knew that for whatever reason Jasper felt very brotherly toward his love. He made a mental note to research it further, but he was glad that his family seemed so attached to her, and he hoped it would help him convince them to let him keep her, if he could.

"You're right."

"What happened to Bella?" Alice asked suddenly. "I can't see her anymore, it's like she's not here at all."

"In the meadow, I felt the earth shake and then I could see myself…and the girl…and then both us were just gone. Like when Lucy phases …it was as if they'd never been there."

"Do you think it worked then? What Lucy was trying to do?" Jasper asked quietly as he gently transferred Lucy into Edwards' waiting arms. He could feel the concern coming off the other man and knew that Jasper was thinking that Edward was the faster out of all of them and would get the girl home sooner.

"Alice…"Edward faltered, hating to even ask. "…can see anything about her?" The question was such a simple one compared to what he wanted to say…would she survive, was she going to phase out and never return…would he be able to keep her?

Alice stepped toward her brother with wide sorrowful eyes. "I wish I could tell you…but everything concerning her is out of focus now. I can't see anything."

Edward sighed and gently held Lucy close to him. "All right, let's get back home…hopefully Carlisle will know what to do."

Alice and Jasper nodded, instantly racing from the clearing, gone so fast that barely any leaves rustled in their wake. Edward lingered only a moment longer, to look down into Lucy's face. Her dark hair fell over his arm in a tumble of dark curls, and her features were relaxed in sleep as her head rested against his chest. Her skin looked pale, normal for him, but worrisome for a mortal. Edward leaned down to brush his lips over her hair and inhale her scent deeply.

"Don't leave me now Lucy. I need you." He murmured, then tightened his hold and raced for home.

*(*(

LUCY

I awoke in my bed with the force of being ripped out of their world. I barely made it to the bathroom before the heaves took over. My head throbbed, my chest ached, and my skin prickled all over with heat. I felt more sick than I'd ever been in my life. So sick that I lay on the cold tile of bathroom (mentally thanking the heavens that I'd cleaned the other day) once the heaving subsided, resting my hot skin against it and didn't know if I had the strength to get up.

"You poor thing…" A soft female voice startled me so much that had I not felt so weak, I would have jumped. As it was I lifted my head to see the form of a woman standing in the doorway, her straight reddish hair flowing down over her shoulders. Her eyes were kind and her expression knowing, she knelt down to extend her hand. "Let me help you."

"Who are you? What are you doing in my apartment?" I rasped, even as I let her help me to my feet. My rational mind screamed at me to be frightened, to threaten to call the police, but I didn't have the strength to fight. And my instincts told me that whoever this woman was, she wasn't hear to harm me. The room spun and my head felt like it was in a vice, I barely made it into my room before she helped me to sit down on the side of my bed.

"I'm Ari…and I'm here to help you." Her voice was gentle, with a southern accent as she moved to grab the shifting book from my nightstand.

"How…did …" I started, but the ache in my head pounded and I closed my eyes it hurt so badly.

"It hurts because you not meant to come back sweetheart. That's why they sent me. Here lay down, it might make it easier." She guided me back to lay down, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"They….who are you talking about?" I asked ,cracking open an eye. I knew I should be afraid of this strange woman in my home, but after all the weird things that I'd gone through, it was hard to choose the lesser of the evils.

She smiled gently and held up the book. "We keep an eye on new shifters, especially those with a power level like yours. It's no small feat to completely alter a dimension on your first try sweetie."

"I …you mean….you know about that?"

"Of course, my daughter is a fan of those books….and since I've been a shifter for years…I noticed the rift that you caused, how the 4th one seemed to just wink out of existence for awhile. Most normal humans can't pick up on that, but we can."

I looked at her, trying to understand. She knew I'd been to the Cullen's world, that I'd messed up the story. "I'm sorry…I didn't meant to….I just…"

"Relax Lucy…I didn't come here to chastise you. You are a quick study as well as a powerful shifter…you managed to right your wrong quite quickly. I had just gotten the call to come check on you when I realized you had just managed to fix the rift."

Her words were calming and gave me hope. I had done it?

"You mean it worked? "

"Yes, you managed to fix their world…you split it like we mention in the guide." She tapped the books gray cover. "Whatever you've done managed to split the realm so that the original one can go on intact as the author saw it. Breaking dawn is back on my daughter's bookshelf as we speak. Even the film trailers reappeared online." She smiled knowingly.

"Half of us would kill for your level of power and intuition Lucy, you are more unique than you realize." She looked down at her hands.

My headache ebbed slightly and I pushed myself up on my hands to look at her. "I don't really understand, but why do I get so sick when I come back?"

The older woman turned her face toward me with a motherly smile. "Because you're not meant for this realm any longer, you left part of yourself behind in the one that you left, that's why you're ill."

My skin prickled with goosebumps. "What do you mean?"

"What I'm saying Lucy, …I'm here to help you with your last shift. It happens occasionally when a higher level shifter splits a realm, they're meant to stay in the one they created, it becomes their home base so to speak because they had a hand in its creation. There are differing theories on why that is, but the fact remains…" her voice trailed off slightly as she turned to look me in the eyes.

"I'm here to send you back, and this time for good."


	16. The place you belong

Edward slowed to a walk as he reached the backyard. He looked down to see that Lucy's state had remained completely unchanged, her color still pale and her form still completely limp in his arms. He carefully walked up the stairs into the house, knowing that he had run far faster than his siblings.

"Carlisle!" He yelled, his voice rasping as his father suddenly appeared in the room, his face a mask of concern. The older man's concern quickly moved to the girl in his sons arms. He quickly guided Edward into the living room and watched carefully as Edward gingerly lowered the girl's limp figure to lay her on the white sofa. His chest constricted as he saw the mask of pain and desperation on his adopted son's face. Edward …who normally was so withdrawn and stoic now wore all of his emotion openly and it pained Carlisle that he didn't have an answer to the problem now before them.

"What happened son?" Carlisle knelt and instinctually reached for Lucy's wrist to check her vitals. Esme appeared at his side, her lovely features pained as she saw Lucy's state and Edward's anguish. She moved towards one end of the couch to gently smooth Lucy's curls away from her face in a motherly gesture.

The details of what had happened spilled from Edward as he paced in front of the sofa, watching as his father tended to the girl.

"I don't even know what happened really….it was like I was there…doing what she had asked us to do…acting with the Swan girl…I could see the images in Lucy's thoughts and I said what she remembered…then it was like….."Edward ranted, his hands going to his hair in frustration.

"Like the earth shook…" Alice's musical tones filled in the gap as she came into the room, her pretty features instantly drawn to where their father was tending the mortal girl. Jasper was right on her heels and went one step further to perch himself on the arm of the couch near Lucy's feet, his face too wearing the same look of worry that they all had.

Carlisle's head snapped up at Alice's comment. "You felt that? The shaking?"

Jasper nodded. "We were there…it happened when Edward did what she told him too….that was when Lucy…." Jasper paused as he gently traced the laces of Lucy's sneaker with the tip of his finger. "…she collapsed."

Edward suddenly strode over to him, his face a mask of hurt. "Did she scream? Was she hurt ?!" He demanded of his brother, reading the blond haired vampires thoughts…searching for any sign of emotion toward the girl. He found nothing more than brotherly affection and felt the familiar wave of calming energy flood through his consciousness. He instantly regretted the jealous flash.

"It's all right Edward." Alice advanced to place a hand on Edward's arm. Edward turned on his sister.

"Have you seen it yet? Do you know?"

Alice lowered her eyes from her brothers angry stare. "No…I can't see her yet, it's still a blur."

Edward groaned quietly. Not being able to see Lucy's future was not a good sign. He took it to mean that she might be lost to him and he felt as if his soul had once again began to scream. The thick wave of pain swept over him, and he dropped to sit against the sofa where Lucy slept on. He pulled up his knees to lean his forehead against them and tried to breathe, despite the fact that it was unnecessary. Each inhale and exhale, though merely a reflex, gave him something to focus on other than the pain and uncertainy that shrouded him.

7898 89897 89898

Jasper rose from the couch and slowly walked from the room, stopping outside to lean against the stair railing, his shoulder's slumped. Alice was at his side a second later, her pretty face concerned as she wrapped herself around him in a gently embrace.

"I know love….his pain is obvious to all of us, I can't imagine how you're taking it."

Jasper leaned his cheek against the top of her head, inhaling the fragrant scent of her hair and sighed. "It's unlike almost anything…the only reference I can remember is the fear of the newborns in the army…when they knew I was coming for them…once Maria had given the execution orders….their terror was like a wet cold blanket on my shoulders…" Jasper winced at the horrific memories and held Alice slightly tighter against him. Her lithe little form brought him endless comfort and he focused on the peace of their connection.

"Come on….let's go upstairs for a bit. There is something I'm curious about…." Alice gently tugged him up to their room on the second story and towards the wildly expensive computer that perched on his desk. She sat beside him as he fired up the machine and searched for the things she dictated.

"Alice what are we looking for exactly?"

Alice's delicate brow furrowed slightly. "Something that Carlisle and Lucy talked about last time that I remember. Carlisle had her look up something he remembered from the past, to see if it existed in her world and she claimed that it did so that makes me curious. Perhaps she existed in ours, or perhaps the internet spans across dimensions…"

Jasper was still for a minute trying to make sense of her idea.

"You think that it exists the same on all of them?"

"Perhaps…there is so much out there and it's just information …and who knows how the dimensions are divided, its not an exact science. Maybe the information is there from all of them, but each dimension writes off the others as fictional?" Alice shrugged slightly. "I know how strange it sounds, but it's possible."

Jasper rubbed a hand over his face and then smiled slightly. "It sounds crazy, but then again, I would have never believed in vampires either….if I hadn't been thrust into being one."

Alice chuckled softly. "My point exactly Jaz."

As they sorted for pages of information Alice tried to remember the few bits of knowledge she'd seen about Lucy, narrowing the fields. It took some time, but Jasper was thankful for the distraction from the waves of desperation that Edward was emitting downstairs. She knew that her empathic soul mate was struggling to keep his composure under the strain. But as they worked, suddenly they found her.

Both of them leaned in, devouring the information they hadn't really expected to uncover. Jasper let out a low whistle. "You were right."

A small mention in a newspaper archive…but the photo was plain as day. It was an obituary ….for her father. A photo of Lucy and an older man with graying dark hair like hers…he'd been killed in a car crash…Lucy had been there as well, but had survived. Alice sighed as she read the article that mentioned her family's names as those that survived his loss. She quietly read it aloud, but when she came to the name's of Lucy's grandparents…Jasper stiffened as she read one name… Tabitha _Hale_-Griffith.

Alice sucked in a breath out of habit and turned to stare at Jasper's shocked expression. "You think…..maybe…."

Jasper was instantly typing something else, in a separate search window...his pale fingers flying as he intently stared at the family history that came up on screen. Interested, both pairs of amber eyes scanned through the genealogy and Alice's lips tugged upward into a smile as they both saw what neither of them could have expected.

"That explains some of it perhaps….her projecting like me…" Jasper smiled, as the realization washed over them both.

Carlisle suddenly appeared in the doorway, he saw the two of them bent over the computer asked "What is it?"

Alice stood and moved slightly so Carlisle could see what they had discovered. Even his concerned expression lightened up slightly as he put together the information.

"Perhaps she was meant to be with us all along." Carlisle mused. "That could explain why she was so drawn here." He laid a hand upon the blond man's shoulder. "As if her presence here wasn't already necessary for Edwards' sake...I'm sure that you would feel even more at home with us if you had a family connection present as well."

Carlisle drifted back out of the room, no doubt to tell Esme.

Alice perched in Jaspers' lap with a small smile as Jasper raked a hand through his blond curls. "My sister was a baby when I enlisted in the army…" he murmured. " I never thought of her being an adult and having children…let alone grandchildren." Jasper leaned his head against Alice as he digested the information. He'd felt close to Lucy from the moment she'd arrived and hadn't been able to explain it…not attraction, but just an odd sort of connection. Now he knew...and suddenly it all made sense. And his heart hurt even more for his brother downstairs as he too now hoped that she would be able to return to them.

Ari spent half the night explaining to me all the nuances of how my final shift would work. The 'council' she kept referring to would create my cover story for me, involving a job out of state that would keep me unavailable for quite some time. She explained that I would be able to shift to return for visits occasionally, but there was no promises made as to when I'd be able to or how long I'd be able to stay. Ari seemed to believe that my natural power was so strong that I wouldn't have a problem with it. Plus the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was truly more at home in their world than I'd ever felt in my own.

As I listened to her speak, I thought of my mother who I'd miss, but she was so content in the new phase of her life that I knew she would be fine. My stepfather took good care of her, and if I'd be able to at least visit once in awhile than she would take it fine. And nothing else truly held me here, everything I valued was there now. The friendships I'd managed to create through my visits, and most of all, Edward. My heart thrummed as I envisioned his face, it made the pounding in my head lessen and my whole body feel warm.

"You may face dangers in that realm though Lucy and you should understand that while you had a hand in its creation, you do not control it nor its inhabitants. The gift does not work that way. You will be physically at its mercy just as leaving it has managed to make you feel so ill right now." Ari's voice grew serious for a moment and I thought of what I remembered from the books , suddenly I realized what she could be referring to.

"The Volturi…" I breathed and watched as she nodded.

"Exactly my point. I watched that New Moon movie with my daughter…that Aro character seemed to have a pretty strong fascination with collecting those with 'rare' gifts. And just as he existed in those stories, it is more than likely that he will exist in your realm now as well. You'd best find out everything you can to protect yourself, because a being like Aro getting ahold of a shifter with your power level…." Her eyes widened, then shut as she shuddered slightly. "Well…let's just say I don't care to imagine the consequences of that."

It was nearly dawn before she finished and told me that it was time. At first I felt panicked as this now seemed so sudden and final but Ari reassured me that once I recharged myself by going back…I would be stronger for my shift back to visit my mother and say goodbye. She also assured me that my belongings would be stored for me until I could return to make other arrangements. It seemed that everything was already thought of and I was curious as to how this mysterious 'council' seemed to know so much and have already made so many preparations.

Ari smiled at that question. "You'll learn in time that as Shifters we tend to have varying gifts and degrees of power, not unlike your beloved Cullen vampires. It's quite simple to have monetary funds at your disposal when some of us shift into dimensions of time rather than just location." She smiled slightly then in a knowing way and I wondered if that happened to be her specialty.

"I'll check in on you from time to time Lucy, now that we've met. Perhaps I'll bring along my daughter one of these days if and when she gains a shifting ability. She would be overjoyed to meet her favorite characters in the flesh." Ari laughed gently then proceeded to take my hands.

"Now relax Lucy darling….this may feel strange, and possibly even painful because in a sense you're severing a tie in this final shift, but trust me and think of your anchor there….do that and you'll come through just fine."

My heart began to race , making me forget my nausea and the pain in my head for a moment as I realized what I was about to do. I closed my eyes as she took my hands and tried to do as she said, I tried to think of Edward, Forks, the Cullens. His face in my mind calmed me a little and gave me comfort as I felt a flux of power suddenly. I wanted to open my eyes then but found that I couldn't. That power seemed to envelop me and shove me through the barrier I'd felt before. Only this time the pressure was deeper, heavier, like being under water….and it didn't go away, only deepened as seconds stretched out to feel like hours. My chest began to burn and just as my eyes wouldn't open, I found myself unable to take a breath. A glimmer of panic fled through me, unable to move, even to breathe and I wondered if Shifters had died doing this, trapped between, suffocated by a shift that went wrong. My chest was burning now, aching and on fire. I couldn't squirm, couldn't move at all. I wanted to scream…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Edward was still seated on the floor beside the sofa where Lucy slept on, his head still buried on his forearms. He was vaguely aware that hours had passed as his family avoided him out of respect for his anguish. He'd never felt such despair in his undead lifetime as he felt now. He's been tuning out the thoughts of his family in his grief but as he heard the gentle steps of his sister and Jasper advancing, he lifted his head and listened. They both wore concerned expressions as they entered the room and saw both his and Lucy's state unchanged.

He was about to question Alice when he read something in both their minds that caused him to stand slowly.

"She's related to you?" Edward was genuinely surprised and now completely understood his brother's ease and affection toward Lucy that he'd picked up on before. It was impossible almost to think that…but then again, dimensional shifting and all this had never been in his realm of possibility either before her.

He was about to ask more when Alice suddenly stiffened and let out a small gasp. Instantly he grabbed the images from her mind as they came to her, desperate for any information.

"She's trapped…she's not strong enough to do what she's trying …." Alice's face wrinkled up as she pressed her hands against her temples. Jasper instantly had his arms around her trying to lend her any of his strength.

Edward watched in horror as the image of Lucy writhing in pain entered his mind. She seemed shrouded in darkness…her form barely made out in the foggy gloom of Alice's vision, but it was clear she was in pain from the way she thrashed. Suddenly a noise from the room startled all of them and Edward dashed from his position back to Lucys' side as her form suddenly went rigid and her breathing moved from even to erratic and choked. 

He vaguely heard the sound of his sister yelling for Carlisle, but he found himself unable to move as he stared. His soul twisted and screamed violently within in him as he suddenly had the terrible fear that just after finding his reason for being...he was going to have to watch her die.


	17. Final Hope

Carlisle's handsome features were laced with concern as he moved over the girl, trying to determine any way to ease her suffering. Alice paced nearby, trying to see anything that might help, but the only vision she was getting was of Lucy in pain, trapped in that nether space. Everyone had slowly drifted into the room, or the doorways…all powerless to help but unable to look away.

The silence was only broken by Lucy's panicked breathing, even as her form still lay lifelessly on the cushions. Edward sank to his knees and closed his eyes, the pain slicing through his being with an intensity he'd not felt since Carlisle had turned him. Esme moved to stand behind him, leaning down to try and embrace her adopted son.

"Carlisle…..it's going to kill them both!" She moaned.

Carlisle flicked his honey gaze toward Edward and grimaced. "Try and keep him calm…I don't know what I can do…. She may not be strong enough…but there must be something….."

At that moment Jasper suddenly moved toward Lucy…striding past Esme and Edward, and put a hand on Carlisle's arm.

"I have an idea." Jasper's voice was solid, despite that fact that he wasn't sure if his hunch would work. But as he formulated the idea in his mind, his beloved was suddenly at his side.

"Yes…Jaz you're right…you have to try." Alice was insistent.

"Try what?"

Jasper suddenly vanished from the room, back again in seconds with a syringe in his hand from Carlisle's study where he kept his medical supplies, he placed in the doctors hand. "My venom….will give her the strength to finish it." Jasper started to explain his idea, but Carlisle was two steps ahead.

"Of course….since you share some of the same genetic markers…yours may be the least damaging to her." Carlisle mused. "There's no guarantee it will work, but we may lose her soon if we don't try."

"NO!" Edward suddenly came to life, springing from Esme's embrace to stand protectively in front of Lucy. "No Carlisle. That could kill her."

"She's already dying Edward….this could bring her back to you."

Edward's hands flexed and his head dropped, knowing that Carlisle was right. He knelt to pass a hand over Lucy's cheek softly then turned pleading eyes back to his adoptive father. "Do it then".

Jasper nodded and rolled up his sleeve. He watched solemnly as the doctor inserted the needle into his vein and pulled up the plunger. The silver venom filled the chamber and Jasper prayed silently that his idea would work. He glanced toward where his brother stood looking so defeated, and then back at Lucy…his only tie to his family, to who he'd been in life and he knew that they had to try.

Carlisle knelt down and gingerly placed the needle against the vein in Lucy's wrist, holding her still with a pale hand. Edward's eyes snapped up to watch in terror, from either outcome. It was as if the moment stretched out in time. All the amber eyes in the room watched as that silver substance drained out into the girl…none of them knowing exactly what the outcome would be. It would take more than that to turn a human, and Carlisle was the only one who ever had done so. But Lucy being a Shifter was different and none of them knew exactly what to expect.

The only sound in the room was Lucy's shallow rasps. And as they all listened in horror…even that sound suddenly ceased.

((((((((((((((((((((((((()()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

The darkness seemed to get tighter around me, like steel cables or clamps were being pulled and pushed until I felt so compressed that I had trouble taking even a shallow breath. The dark was so complete that I closed my eyes for the blackness remained the same either way. I tried to think of Forks and the Cullens, but especially of Edward. I saw him in the woods that day I'd come, recalled his cool touch through my clothing, that sweet smirk that he wore when I'd blocked his mind reading. I wanted to apologize to him for not being strong enough, for attempting what I shouldn't have. I felt it now …as each breath was harder and hurt more than the last. I was going to die here….I could feel my heart slowing as my breathing grew more and more shallow and the pressure on my chest began to burn painfully.

_Edward…I tried…. Oh Edward…I'm sorry…forgive me…_

And with that I sucked in one small last gasp of air as the pressure clamped down one last time.

For a moment I wondered if that was it. Was this what it felt like to die? I couldn't feel that pain any longer, nor the pressure. My lungs were no longer aching. I opened my eyes expecting to see the same blackness….but now I could make out a pinpoint of light in the dark. As I stared it began to grow, as if it were coming toward me. Sadness suddenly swept through me_. I was dead_…I had to be.

But then as the light burned through all that dark, becoming so bright it was nearly blinding….I felt the burning sensation subside. I no longer felt like my lungs were on fire, but now the heat slipped away only to be replaced by an ice cold prickling sensation that creeped over my limbs, but surprisingly there was no pain, just the cold. I had no idea how to even register the sensation, but instead closed my eyes as the light became so bright I couldn't stand it.

)()()*(*()&(*&*(&(&*(&*&*&

Edward stared in horror, frozen in place as her breath ceased. No one moved, there was no sound at all. Lucy now lay as still as death, her skin as pale as the rest of them, and her chest still and silent. Edward was the first to move, slowly falling to his knees beside her, his hand reaching up to gently touch her neck and when he felt no pulse, only soft skin that rapidly was cooling he jerked his hand away as if burned. His head dropped to his chest and a low keening sound hummed out from his chest. Carlisle grabbed him then, pulling his weight against his chest.

"I'm sorry son….there was no way to know if it would work….maybe….." Carlisle's voice was choked as he tightly held his adopted son. "…maybe she wasn't meant to be here…."

Edward's moan of anguish had quietly faded out and his form was limp in his fathers' hold. The rest of his family stared in sadness for their sibling. Rosalie turned to bury her face in Emmett's chest, and Jasper leaned against the doorway for strength against the onslaught of despair that fell over him as he tried to shoulder the weight of his brother's grief and the rest of their obligatory sadness. The weight nearly pushed him down to the ground but then just as he prepared to run from the house to save himself from being crushed by the weight….he felt the strangest sensation…as if someone was slowly lessening the burden…taking some of it on themselves and off of him.

Jasper looked over to find Alice's face, trying to understand, and take comfort in her presence as she always seemed to able to calm him. But as he found her face, he saw her eyes closed and her brow gently furrowed. She shivered slightly, and as Jasper moved toward her, each step was easier and lighter than the one before….the sadness still hung thick in the air, tied to Edwards' misery…but it was as if the weight no longer was his to hold and he tried to process. Just as he reached Alice, her golden eyes opened and her features moved into a slow smile.

Jasper didn't have to ask why. Instead a soft familiar voice suddenly lanced through the silence.

"Edward…."


	18. Home

As the white light burned over me…it left only blackness for a moment, but it was no longer the heavy suffocating weight it had been before. This darkness was cool and comforting and I felt the tingles over my limbs as I came into my new form in this realm…his realm…mine now too. I flexed my fingers instinctively and just as I was about to open my eyes I felt a new sensation…_fear, despair, hope, and curiousity_…I could sense all of it. Like different odors of a bouquet…the feelings swirled over my senses and the feeling was so strange cause I instantly could sense that they weren't my own. A faint memory swirled through my brain….Jasper's comment about projecting…was this what it felt like to be him? To feel and sense emotions that were not your own?

As I savoured these new sensations, one emotion gradually towered over all the rest…._the fear_…as I focused on it …I could sense all the nuances of it, the exact signature. My heart ached as I realized who owned this terror, and most importantly why. As I felt the last of my strength return, his name was the first one I rushed to say.

"Edward…."

The light was bright as I opened my eyes and everything came into focus. Everything slowly cleared up into such detail that it seemed unreal. I could see the detail of the room, the brush strokes in the paintings, the clarity of the trees outside the window as they swayed in the windy rain. It was all so clear and so vivid. I'd never been able to see this well before….but the curiosity was pushed aside for the moment as I quickly sat up and searched the room for him.

"Lucy." His voice was rough and broken, but still so beautiful. Hungrily I raked my eyes over the smooth lines of his features, feeling as if it had been months seen I'd seen him when I had no idea how much or little time had actually passed. But as I watched his expression quickly morph from despair to relieved joy I knew I'd never seen something more perfect. I reached out my hand and he was there in an instant, sitting beside me and staring into my eyes with that beautiful caramel colored stare.

"Are you all right? Lucy….I thought…" he rambled, words running together as he tried to articulate all that had gone on. I could feel in his aura the biggest fear, that still pulsed and I hurried to answer.

"I get to stay, Edward." I said slowly, watching as his features slowly pulled into a beautiful smile.

"What? How? I did what you told me…there was a…I don't even know, something happened….and Bella….she was…she was just gone…and you…." Edward rushed it all out in a jumble

But as I started to answer, something caught my attention. I flexed my hand in his grip and his hold no longer felt like cold stone…it was as if we had the same density. Our skin….mine was nearly the same pale white as his now…only a touch more peach.

"Edward..What happened to me?"

In his eyes I tried to read the answer as he paused a moment. But it was Carlisle who spoke instead, and it was only then that I noticed him coming to kneel by my side.

"It was necessary….to save you, your form here. It was dying." Carlisle explained, as I allowed him to check me over. He seemed satisfied with what he saw. "I apologize for not giving you the choice Lucy….I made a vow never to do that after…" his gaze flickered apologetically toward where Rosalie stood at Emmetts side. "..but in this case, you had expressed a desire to stay with us before…and Edward, well…I believe his need is already understood."

Carlisle's eyes seemed to plead for forgiveness, as if he felt that he'd done me a wrong by saving me, by making me like them.

"I had already chosen Carlisle, I was on my way back for good….but I got trapped somehow, between….I can't explain it. I felt so weak, but I was trying…you merely helped me the last step of the way." I smiled, hoping to ease his guilt and his face did seem to soften as he processed my words.

"Can you tell us what happened." He asked, standing once more to return to Esme's side.

"There was a woman…when I got back…a Shifter like me…she told me about a council for those like me…and she explained how it works. Because we succeeded in splitting your realm…that meant that the fictional one could go back to the way it was, the way the writer dreamt it. But all of you, and I…this realm, the one I created in a sense…I had to come back, to stay." I turned to smile at Edward, still unable to believe I was here…. "If you want me, that is."

I was in his arms then, his solid embrace locking me to his chest as I felt him bury his face in my neck and I felt the deep sigh of relief that he emitted as I let him hold me. I understood, it had been exactly how I'd felt when I'd been trapped, so scared I would never see him again, scared I'd never be able to come back. Over his shoulder I saw several similar relieved smiled on the faces of the rest of the Cullens…my new _family_, at least I hoped.

"More than you know Lucy…" Edward mumbled near my ear.

"What do you mean?'

"My brother…." Edward gestured towards Jasper whose smile widened slightly. "…or should I say…yours…in a sense."

I looked from the blond vampire back to Edward and tried to get the joke. "What are you talking about?"

"Well…technically your great uncle I believe…." Edward chuckled as Jasper moved toward us. I turned toward Jasper to try and understand, but my brain slowly moved the gears into place.

"Does he mean…?"

Jasper nodded and reached for my hands to pull off the couch and onto my feet. I could feel his joy between us and the familiar sense of home. "My sister…we looked it up, she was your dad's grandmother."

As I stared at him, ready to hear them all laughing at the joke…he nodded slowly.

"For real?! But I thought…" I started to laugh out of the sheer impossibility of all this.

"Our worlds are not as far apart as we thought it seems." Carlisle's voice chimed in.

I glanced around the room at all their faces which had gradually now changed to all smiles as they watched us. I'd never felt more at home than I did in this moment, and the joy bubbled up inside of my soul. Jasper's smile widened as I felt his energy in the room too…without a word, almost as if we shared a thought I felt a nudging in my mind and I followed its lead, concentrating as the emotion flooded outward. I heard a small giggle nearby and turned to see Alice had moved to Jasper's side.

Another soft deep chuckle from Emmett and then one from Carlisle as I felt Jasper…my brother…guide me in my projection. I felt strong arms wrap around my waist, and my heart felt almost as if it would burst as I felt him lean comfortably against me. Jasper met my eyes and grinned as my joy radiated through the room.

From behind me, I heard Edward whisper in my ear the thought that perfectly summed up the feeling.

"Welcome Home Lucy."


End file.
